


The Trainer and the Tomboy

by Acanthus_Addams



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-02-04 16:25:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18608206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acanthus_Addams/pseuds/Acanthus_Addams
Summary: A continuous series of oneshots centred around Ash and Misty, each based on a random word from the dictionary. Pokéshipping, with hints of others.





	1. Star

"Misty, do you think the stars can see us?"

A warm July wind whistled and swirled in the cloudless Pallet Town sky, fanning the blades of grass around the two young adults lying side-by-side.

"Well, they haven't got eyes, so I don't see how that would work," the redheaded girl stated matter-of-factly, but, upon noticing her friend's slightly dejected expression, made sure to add, "but it's a nice thought, I suppose."

The tall, black-haired man turned his head to the side, smiling. "I was just wondering because…these are the same stars as when I started my journey, right? They've been with me everywhere I went, from Kanto all the way to Alola, so it's kinda like they've been keeping track of my progress, watching me get stronger and stronger. And now they're here at the end, too! Don't you think that's pretty cool?"

"Ash, you're drunk." Misty giggled, nudging his shoulder. "You'd think anything was cool right now."

"Well _you're_ not cool!" he teased, sticking his tongue out at her. "And come on, I'm not drunk; I've only had, like, seven pints, and whatever that green stuff was that Brock and Gary forced down me. Haven't I been a good boy tonight, Mist?"

"Yes, Ash, you've been very good," she played along, giving the boy a quick pat on the head.

Misty sighed. The moments she got to spend alone with her best friend were few and far between, and a drunken, semi-conscious conversation at 1:30 in the morning with the music from the house still ringing in her ears was hardly her idea of an ideal scenario. The party was nearing the end, with only a few stragglers and close friends remaining, which prompted the Indigo League's newest pokémon master and the Cerulean City gym leader to relocate to the garden, staring blissfully up at the star-veiled sky like two innocent ten-year-olds.

"But if the stars _did_ have eyes," Ash persisted, "do you think they could see us?"

Again, Misty couldn't help but let out a small giggle. Leave it to Ash Ketchum to only show his deep and poetic side after seven pints of beer.

"I honestly don't know, Ash," she admitted. "I've never really thought about it before."

The excited boy scooted closer to his best friend, grass and dandelions clinging to his creased, black tuxedo, and shifted onto his side to look her in the eye. "Wanna know a secret?"

Misty thanked the stars (ironically enough) that it was so dark outside, or else he would have seen the huge blush adorning her face. She nodded, shuffling into a similar position to face him.

"About a month or so into my journey through Hoenn, I…" He paused to clear his throat sheepishly. "I started looking up at the sky when everyone else had gone to bed and, er, talking to the people I rarely saw anymore."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion, gesturing for him to go on.

"I guess I must have been feeling homesick, if you can believe that, but even when I got used to my new friends and new surroundings, I still kept on doing it, and I have done ever since. Something about it always made me feel better, you know?"

Misty nodded again, smiling ever so slightly, but in reality, she was shocked. This was a side of Ash that she had seldom seen before, and she was anxious to get to know it better.

"I talked to all sorts of people – Mom, Professor Oak, Tracey, even Gary occasionally – but mostly, I talked to you. I didn't realise how much I missed hanging out with you, so I just spoke out loud like you were right there with me, and I always hoped that…erm…the stars would pass the words on to you…"

The inebriated pokémon master's words trailed off lifelessly, and, for a brief moment, Misty wondered whether or not he had dozed off mid-sentence. After a quick jab in the arm and a startled "ow!", however, the grinning water pokémon trainer released a soft exhale.

"That was unbelievably corny, Ash," she remarked flatly. "I didn't think you had it in you. But…" she moved her face to just inches away from his, giggling as his eyes widened in surprise, "it was also one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me, so thank you, Mr. Pokémon Master."

At the mention of these words, Ash leapt up from the ground, stumbling slightly before proceeding to clumsily run laps around the garden, arms flailing manically in the air.

"YES! That's the first time you've called me that since you got here, and now it's true! TRUUUUUE! How d'you like them apricorns, huh, Mist?!"

Shaking her head, Misty rose to her feet, dusting off her sky blue sundress and moving to chase her best friend around the grass.

"Ash, you idiot, stop running around, you're going to break your neck!"

"Aww, what's the matter, Misty, you getting tired?"

Not that she would admit it, but the 20-year-old gym leader was actually having more fun at this very moment than she had had all night. Naturally, as soon as the party started, Ash was swamped with waves of people looking to congratulate him, to present him with gifts, to discuss every nanosecond of his final battle, and, once he had made the rounds, the night was already half-over. She was far from alone, of course, as Brock and Tracey staggered over to her every so often, and Delia chatted with her for hours about how proud she was of her "baby Ashy", but it was the baby in question whose attention she really yearned for. After ten years, he had finally achieved his dream, and, besides maybe his mother, no-one could be more proud of him than his best friend Misty Waterflower. She just had to let him know.

"I mean it, Ash, get back here or I'll-"

But whatever reckoning the redhead was planning would have to wait, as Ash had somehow managed to trip over his own feet, landing face-first in Delia's wheelbarrow.

"Are you alright?" Misty called down to the crumpled pile below her. Once she managed to writhe the surprisingly heavy pokémon master out of the wheelbarrow, the two friends exchanged a brief look of surprise before simultaneously bursting into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"W-Well, A-Ash," Misty howled, holding her aching sides, "for all this talk of stars, you've still got a _loooooong_ way to go before you become one yourself!"

"What are you talking ab- oh, right, that," he replied, still chuckling while scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm still getting the hang of that part of the job."

"Tell me about it," she groaned. "My sisters want me to go to all their photoshoots and galas now, as the 'fourth Sensational Sister'. Why won't they get it through their heads that I'm just not interested?"

"Well, at least you've got a choice. These last few weeks have been nothing but interviews, press conferences, talk shows…and, oh my god, those damn paparazzi! Do you know they're the reason we had to wait until now to have this party?"

Misty reached over and placed a reassuring hand on the young man's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Ash…"

"I don't know about this, Misty." Ash sighed, his speech suddenly becoming less slurred. "I mean, I've wanted to become a pokémon master my whole life, and I really am looking forward to working and training at the Indigo Plateau. But this other side of it – the fame, the fan mail, the celebrity lifestyle – I just don't know if I'm ready to be, you know…a 'star'."

"Ash Ketchum, stop feeling sorry for yourself right now!" Misty barked, her finger pointing threateningly between the startled boy's eyes. "You are one of the strongest, bravest people I've ever met, and if anyone can get through this, it's you! I know it won't be easy, but, well, er, at least you're going to be working close to home now, right? You've got your mom and the professor close by, and Brock, and, well, also, there's always m-"

The gym leader's words of comfort were abruptly halted by a loud banging noise, followed by a series of cheers and yells. Turning around to face the house, the two friends noticed the kitchen door wide open, light spilling out around the doorframe, and a literal conga line of some of their closest friends – Brock, Tracey and Gary – wobbling merrily towards them.

"WOOOOOOOHOOO!" cried an extremely drunk Brock, a few streamers dangling from his spiky brown hair. "Well, if it ishn't the happy couple! Howzhe you doingggg?"

"Congrashlajunssss, Azzsshhhh…" Tracey beamed, attempting to curl his unresponsive hand into a thumbs-up.

"Heyyyy, did we indrupt summing, Ashy-boyyy?" smirked Gary. "Ooooh, I tshink they was gunna kish!"

The trio of drunkards squealed exaggeratedly, causing Ash and Misty to redden like a pair of tomatoes.

"Looksh zlike they need a bsit of helfp, boysssss! Readyyy? One, twoo, hic, thzeee!"

All the unfortunate pair could do was watch as Brock, Gary and Tracey lined up beside each other, draping their arms lethargically over each other's shoulders and performing a dance that vaguely resembled the can-can.

"SSSING WITH MEEE! TOGEDDER FORESSHER, NO MAZZER HOW LONGGG! FROMMOW UNSHTIL THE ENG OF T-"

"Oh my god, what the hell are you guys doing?!" a gentle but agitated voice resonated from the kitchen doorway. Seconds later, an incredulous May appeared alongside the three stooges.

"Like, hheeyyy zhere, Mvvayy!" Brock gurgled, a sloppy grin plastered on his face. "Fancy ssheeing you hrere!"

May huffed at the intoxicated pokémon breeder, turning her head slightly to the side to shoot an apologetic look at the speechless Misty.

"What's wrong with you all?! Can't you see they're having a moment here? Get back in the house, you bunch of bullies!"

Without another word, the pokémon coordinator shooed the hollering trio back towards the house, gently closing the door behind her.

For a while, Misty just stood there, both perplexed and infuriated at the scene that just transpired. Those three had always been the worst offenders for poking fun at her and Ash's alleged feelings for each other, drunk or otherwise, and, while she was always able to deal with their petty remarks, she couldn't deny that they hurt a little bit more each time – mostly because, from her side, at least, the things they said could not be more true.

Rather than risk broaching the subject with the world's densest pokémon master, however, the lovesick gym leader instead decided to pretend that the events of less than five minutes ago had never even happened.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Ash…Ash?"

On eye-level, the raven-haired trainer had seemingly vanished into thin air. It was only when she looked down at her feet that Misty noticed her best friend curled up on the grass, snoring lightly with his hat pulled over his eyes.

She shook her head in a jokingly exasperated fashion, tiptoeing away from him to make her way back to the house. Minutes later, after fighting her way back through the smattering of zealous hangers-on, she returned to Ash's side in the garden, carefully placing a pillow under his head and a blanket over his shoulders.

"Goodnight, Ash." She smiled, setting her red sleeping bag down next to him. Crawling inside, the young woman alternated between staring up at the sky and at Ash's peacefully sleeping form. Were it not for the faint remnants of music pulsing from the Ketchum residence, the whole of Pallet Town would be enveloped in a profound, beautiful silence, the kind that a sprawling metropolis such as Cerulean City could never hope to achieve. It was one of the reasons that Misty loved coming back to her best friend's hometown.

The other reason – aside from the obvious one, of course – was directly above her. Drunk Ash was right about one thing; Pallet Town always had the most perfect view of the stars. The whole sky was illuminated by millions of tiny white spheres, each blinking their own unique light in a grand network of natural beauty. Instinctively, Misty lay on her back, her eyes transfixed on the countless celestial bodies, and began to talk softly up to the cloudless sky. The 'conversation' only lasted a few minutes, but the young girl poured her heart out, unleashing her deepest, truest feelings to the ever-present air. She held nothing back, only stopping when tiredness began to weigh on her eyelids, and, before drifting off into a deep slumber, she turned onto her side to steal one last blissful glance at the object of her monologue.

If Ash's theory was correct, her message should be waiting right there on the stars for him when he woke up.


	2. Snap

Cerulean City was a beautiful place. Ash Ketchum had thought this before he even understood the concept of beauty, and now, at 23 years of age, he took every opportunity he could to pay a visit to the water-themed metropolis. From the quaint, elegant city streets and bustling central plaza to the picturesque scenes of Nugget Bridge and Cerulean Cape, there was not an inch of this place that could not be considered a paradise.

…Okay, so maybe the exterior of the Cerulean gym left something to be desired, but, for Ash, its inhabitants – well, one of them, anyway – more than made up for that.

He and Misty Waterflower had officially been a couple for two years, finally putting an end to more than a decade of will-they-won't-they speculation from friend and foe alike. Although Ash's ongoing pokémon journey kept the two apart for long periods of time, their love ran so deep that it hardly mattered, as simply knowing how the other felt after so long was reward enough.

At least, that was what he had thought before he stepped into his girlfriend's gym that morning.

"Misty? Are you here? Hello?" he called across the foyer, walking back and forward along the waiting room. Strangely, there was no answer.

Perhaps stranger still was that the front desk was also unoccupied. Ash reached over to the small, silver bell on the counter and began to hammer it repeatedly. "Daisy? Is Misty with you? Someone please answer me!"

Just as the pokémon trainer was beginning to lose patience, a muffle of girlish laughter came echoing from behind the closed doors to the arena. Judging by the shrillness, the three Sensational Sisters were definitely in there, but was Misty with them? Ash shrugged; Misty and her sisters didn't usually see eye to eye, and neither did she seem to have much in common with them. In any case, he decided that the pool would be a good place to commence his search.

As he approached the red, teardrop-shaped double doors, the voices from the other side became clearer, and, with a smile, Ash immediately picked out the sweet voice of the prickly redhead he fell in love with. Before he could reach for the handle, however, another voice, a man's, made its way into earshot. It was a soft but mature voice, one that sounded so familiar but, for some reason, Ash was simply unable to place.

"Thanks so much for coming today," he heard Misty say to the mystery man. "I forgot how good you are!"

"It's my pleasure, Misty," he replied. "You looked absolutely gorgeous."

"Aww, thank you! And thanks for inviting me out to dinner last night."

"No problem. I've been looking forward to this for a long time, so it's the least I could do!"

With each new line of dialogue, Ash's heart rate began to get faster and faster. His stomach churned with a sudden wave of nausea, and he felt himself start to tremble ever so slightly. Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? As the two continued speaking, he leaned forward, pressing his ear to the door to better hear this increasingly harrowing conversation.

"You know," Misty piped up again, "I wasn't sure at first when you suggested we do this, but I'm amazed by how quickly I relaxed into it."

"Exactly, I told you you'd like it once you got used to it!"

"It's been so long since I did anything like this. I mean, my sisters do it all the time, but I'd almost forgotten what it felt like."

"It was good for me, too. We should make this a regular thing, eh?"

Ash had never been one to overthink things, but the more they said, the more they seemed to confirm his suspicions. Just who was this guy, and what was he doing with his girlfriend? A mixture of anger and fear began to brew inside of him, and his grip on the door handle began to tighten.

"So, are you happy with all the positions we tried?" the man asked.

"Oh yes, I'm very happy. I almost talked myself out of that last one, but I think it turned out really sexy in the end!"

A cold flush swept through the pokémon trainer's body upon hearing that telltale word. There was now little doubt in his mind that his worst fears had been realised. What Misty's elusive 'companion' said next, however, nearly stopped his heart.

"Are you going to tell Ash?"

A short moment of silence passed before Misty answered. "Not yet. He's always busy these days and we rarely ever see each other. I want this to be a surprise for when he comes to visit."

 _A surprise?_ Ash thought in disgust, feeling rather lightheaded, _Is this all some kind of joke to her?_ Running his hands down the length of his face, he leant his back against the wall, gradually sliding lethargically down to the floor. The corners of his eyes stung with hot tears, and it took all of his remaining strength to blink them back. How could Misty do this to him? The last time he spoke to her was about a week ago, and at no point during the lengthy phonecall did he suspect a thing; in fact, she seemed positively overjoyed that Ash was finally coming to Cerulean City after so long. He himself had been looking forward to seeing his girlfriend again all year, and could barely contain his excitement on the plane ride to the Kanto region; now, though, knowing what he knew about the woman he loved, the woman he thought loved him back, the distraught pokémon trainer could not help but act on the most prominent thought rattling around his brain: _I've got to get out of here_.

Releasing a laboured sigh, Ash scraped himself back up the wall to his feet, dusting off his blue jacket with shaking hands. He was just about to trudge silently away when, all of a sudden, the arena doors swung open before him, smacking him in the face and knocking him straight back down to the ground.

"Oh my god, I'm so sor- Ash, is that you?"

A dazed and slightly delirious Ash looked up at the source of the voice, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the sun. Ignoring the outstretched hand from the mystery man, he quickly stumbled to his feet, massaging his throbbing forehead. As soon as his eyes landed on the person in question, however, his legs instantly started to buckle underneath him. _No_ , he thought, fighting the urge to faint, vomit, or both, _It couldn't be…_

He knew he recognised that voice. Standing before him was his and Misty's old friend and brief traveling partner, Todd Snap. An expensive-looking camera hung from a strap around his neck, and, for some unknown reason that Ash was afraid to think about, he was shirtless.

"It's been so long! How've you been? Misty's been telling me a lot about your progress as a pokémon trainer," Todd greeted, pushing his curly brown bangs out of his eyes.

Ash opened his mouth, but no words seemed to come out. _How dare you pretend like everything's normal? How stupid do you think I am?_ After a long pause, the flustered trainer managed to mutter a quick, emotionless, "Fine."

At that moment, another figure emerged from behind him. Her bright orange ponytail bobbed up and down as she stopped at Todd's side, examining the sight before her.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into her boyfriend's not-so-receptive arms. Ash half-heartedly returned the embrace, and, when she leant in to kiss him, he tried his absolute hardest not to sink into it completely. As frustrating and upsetting as this situation was, he could not deny that he still loved her more than anything.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling away gently. "I thought you weren't supposed to be coming until next week?"

Suddenly, the real reason of, "I couldn't wait to see you so I hopped on the first plane here", did not seem like the smartest answer to give. "I, er, messed up my flight booking," he lied in a low, gravelly voice.

"I believe you." She sighed, matching his monotone timbre.

"Well, I should probably be heading off now," said Todd, pulling on a red, striped T-shirt and turning towards the door.

"Oh, can't you stay for a little while longer?" pleaded Misty. "I'm sure you and Ash would love to catch up."

Ash clenched his fists, burying his fingernails so far into his palms that he almost drew blood.

"I'd love to, Misty, but I have some errands to run down in Celadon City today. These last couple of days have been really fun, though."

"Yeah, they have." She smiled.

"So is it still okay if I come back tomorrow to pick up my stuff?"

"Of course, Todd, I'll leave it right where you left it!"

While they prattled on, Ash felt himself losing the tiny shred of patience he had left. He knew he was about to be extremely rude, but his girlfriend owed him an explanation, and he could wait no longer. "Shouldn't you be going now, Todd?"

"Ash Ketchum!" Misty barked at him, blushing from embarrassment.

"No no, he's right, I've lingered around here too long," Todd stated cheerily, making his way over to the front door. "It was great seeing you again, Ash, and thank you for having me, Misty!"

With that, the photographer and the gym leader shared a quick hug, causing Ash's hair to stand on end. Todd then stepped through the automatic glass doors at the entrance to the gym.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot!" he shouted, turning back to face Ash and Misty. Reaching into his satchel, he pulled out an A4-sized brown envelope, tugging at the slightly dog-eared corner.

"Here, I just developed it. It's the one from last night," he said, winking a little at the end.

Ash watched as Misty accepted the envelope, expressing her gratitude as melodramatically as possible while Todd slowly disappeared down the path towards the car park. The pokémon trainer's eye remained fixed on him until his car had completely vanished down the road.

"Okay, do you want to tell me exactly what that was about?" Misty growled menacingly from behind his back.

Without turning around, Ash coldly snarled, "You first."

"What? What do you mean?"

He swivelled on his heel to look her directly in the eye. "How long has this been going on?" he hissed, his finger shifting rapidly between his girlfriend and the direction that Todd drove away in.

"How long has…wha?" asked a perplexed Misty.

"Oh like you don't know!" Ash snapped suddenly, causing the gym leader to jump. "I heard the whole thing, Misty, you can stop with the act now."

"Ash, what the hell are you talking about? What act?" she retorted, her voice also increasing in volume.

"I'm talking about you and Todd, that's what!" bellowed Ash, his voice dripping with venom. "I heard the two of you gushing about how good it was, how badly you both needed this, how you can't wait for it to happen again...did you really think I wouldn't find out? I suppose it's real inconvenient that I got here a week early, isn't it! Thought you'd have more time to do Mew-knows-what together before I showed up to play the sap? At least he took you out to dinner first; after all, that shows he _must_ be a classy, respectable guy, and definitely not some lowlife scumbag! In fact, why am I taking this all out on him? You're even worse than he is! I thought you loved me, Misty; I thought we had something really special here; but clearly I was wrong. I guess now I've saved you the trouble of having to tell me you're…you're…"

As his anger gave way to sadness, Ash's words tapered off gradually towards the end of his speech. He couldn't quite bring himself to say the exact words. Misty simply stood rooted to the spot, her eyes wide and her face flushed. The only time she had seen Ash this upset was after his defeat in the Indigo League over ten years ago, and these two situations were hardly comparable. Over the course of his emotional monologue, her expression switched rapidly between confusion, anger, guilt, embarrassment and sadness, but now, after processing everything her boyfriend just screamed at her, all she could do was laugh.

It started out light, but quickly grew, louder and louder, stronger and stronger, until the gym leader was beside herself with hysterical laughter. Ash watched incredulously as this scene played out before him, unsure of how to react. Finally, he snapped once again.

"Well, I'm glad you think this is so funny! I can see now how you feel about m-"

Misty's laughter eventually began to subside, and she held up her hand, effectively silencing the distressed boy across from her.

"So, let me get this straight," she spoke in an almost playful tone. "You think I'm having an _affair_ …with Todd Snap?"

Ash was briefly taken aback by the bluntness of her words. "Y-Yeah I do, because you are! Aren't you?"

Again, Misty let out a giggle, reaching out to take the frustrated young man's hand in hers. "Come with me."

Not exactly sure of what to do at this point, he begrudgingly allowed her to drag him through the large doors into the arena, his heart pounding as his mind raced with wildly unsettling ideas of what he might see in there.

Gathered at the far end of the pool were Misty's older sisters, Daisy, Violet and Lily, each clad in their classic water ballet apparel. Daisy was tending to Gyarados, stroking the huge water dragon as it coiled itself up under the diving board, roaring with contentment. An array of sophisticated equipment, from spotlights to light-reflecting discs, lay scattered around the arena, and Ash had to keep his eyes fixed on the ground to avoid tripping over the mess of cables trailing along the poolside.

As the giggling Waterflower sisters waved over at him amicably before exiting through the changing rooms, Ash tugged on Misty's arm, causing her to turn to face him.

"What am I supposed to be looking at here?"

Misty closed her eyes and placed her hands behind her back. "A couple of days ago, I got a call from Todd. He said he was in Cerulean City for a few photography jobs, and he asked me if he could come to the gym to photograph some of my pokémon."

Ash raised an eyebrow, but the stony expression he maintained signalled the gym leader to continue.

"So I invited him over yesterday. He seemed to really take a shine to Gyarados – after it stopped trying to eat him, of course. Then, my sisters came back, saw what we were doing, and before I knew it, they were asking him to give them a full photoshoot."

"What you were _doing_?" Ash inquired queasily.

"Let me finish, Ash," she commanded firmly. "After they managed to persuade him, he set up all this equipment and spent the rest of the day taking photos of my sisters in pretty much every outfit they owned. After a while, they even convinced me to join in, and, although I didn't really want to at first, I ended up quite enjoying it. Afterwards, Todd invited us all out to dinner as his way of saying 'thanks'."

"You, er…sisters…photoshoot…" the pokémon trainer stuttered, shifting between states of deep thought and mindless delirium.

"The only reason he came back today was because my sisters didn't leave him with much of an opportunity to capture footage of my pokémon. And, before you ask, he didn't have a shirt on when you saw him because he'd just been in the pool. Apparently, he likes to swim alongside water pokémon to capture them in their most natural poses. That good enough for you, muk-for-brains?" Misty questioned, a saccharine look of sarcasm etched onto her face.

Ash was struggling to keep up with the barrage of information hurled at him by his girlfriend. He had been so sure just a minute ago, so immovable in his awareness of what seemed like such a painful truth. It took the confused pokémon trainer a good few minutes before he finally began to decipher her words.

"So, y-you and him weren't…I mean, er, you're not…"

"Cheating on you?" the gym leader finished, her hands on her hips. "Of course I'm not! How could you even say that?! All we did was catch up and take a couple of photos!"

Ash's eyes trailed back over to Misty's, a somewhat sorrowful look flashing across his russet irises. "You promise?" he murmured meekly.

"I promise. Ash, there is nothing going on between me and Todd Snap."

At that moment, the young man released a monumental sigh of relief. The brief satisfaction it granted him, however, was abruptly halted by the sudden impact of a mallet crashing down on his head.

"YOOOOWWWWW!" he screamed, clutching the newly formed lump beneath his hat. "Misty, what the-"

"That was for thinking I would EVER do that!" barked Misty. Seconds later, her stern expression morphed into a flirtatious smile. "And _this_ is to remind you that I never will."

Slowly, she slid her arms around her boyfriend's neck, leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his partially open mouth. Still reeling from the shock of being malletted, Ash did not reciprocate straight away, but soon found himself melting into the redheaded girl's intoxicating embrace, sighing blissfully at the feeling of her soft lips on his.

"I love you so much, Ash Ketchum," a smiling Misty whispered into his ear. "And don't you ever forget it; but you've got to stop being so quick to jump to conclusions, ok? You may be a lot older now, but it's times like these that I swear I can still see traces of that dense, hard-headed little ten-year-old who drove me up the wall every day."

"I love you too, Misty," he replied, feeling calm again for the first time since he entered the Cerulean gym that morning. "And, er…I'm sorry. You know, er, for all those things I said. I'm so lucky to have you."

"Besides," she piped up after a few minutes of silent hugging, "I'm pretty sure Todd's gay."

Ash's head snapped back to face his girlfriend. "Really? What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch." Misty shrugged. "Daisy thought it, too. That's why I felt comfortable letting him take this."

Bending down, she retrieved the brown envelope that had previously fallen to the floor during Ash's outburst and held it out to him.

"What is it?" Ash asked, taking the slightly damp envelope from her.

"Your present for coming to see me." she smiled mischievously as she began to walk towards the foyer. "Consider it a little… _taster_."

A few seconds later, she was gone, leaving a bewildered Ash Ketchum standing alone in the gym's colossal arena. Looking down at his mysterious gift, he fumbled with the packaging slightly before sliding off the paper sleeve in one swift motion. Once his eyes landed on the smooth, glossy photograph in his hands, however, his heart nearly exploded out of his chest.

There was Misty, lying on her front on the diving board in a red, silk negligee. Her head was propped up on her right arm, and her bare leg dangled off the end of the board, toes pointing daintily towards the water. The blue-green of her eyes stood out beautifully in the subtle, atmospheric lighting of the photograph, burning with a fire and an energy that Ash had only witnessed a handful of times before. All the blushing pokémon trainer could do was stare, unable to tear his eyes away from the mesmerising image of the girl he had never been more attracted to. After another minute, he suddenly broke out into a wide grin, shooting across the gym towards the living quarters upstairs, where his Misty was undoubtedly waiting for him.

Ash made a mental note to apologise to his old friend Todd Snap tomorrow. Then again, he thought, it would be awfully rude of him not to take a look at the rest of the man's portfolio first...


	3. Pause

It happens every single time, and every single time it happens it seems to bother me more.

Not that I expect anything less from him these days – he is, after all, still just as dense as he ever was – but I've known him for over half my life, and in all that time he's never once deviated from this unique pattern. In a weird way, you could almost call that a talent.

What exactly brings it on is hard to explain, but the gist of it is that whenever someone presents him with something even vaguely serious, emotional or thought-provoking, the poor boy seems to go into complete shutdown. These things can range from:

Questions on topics he knows nothing about ("How do I look?");

To heart-breaking moments in his journey ("Charizard refuses to battle! The winner of the match is the red trainer, Ritchie!");

To matters so trivial and unimportant that only he could turn them into a problem ("Would you like fries with that?").

Yet, whatever the cause, his response is always the same:

" _Uhhhhh…_ "

The only other constant is the face he makes during these moments, which is absolutely priceless. He stares off into the middle distance, leaning forward with his head cocked slightly to the side. His eyebrows are furrowed in a 'focused' sort of way, and his mouth always hangs open a little. There's been much debate among the group over the years as to what goes on in that boy's head, if anything (and I'm usually the one to suggest the latter), but I like to think that, at times like these, the cogs are slowly turning – albeit _very_ slowly. I suppose I can admit that I sometimes find this vacant-but-intense look kind of endearing, or even, dare I say it, cute; mostly, though, it just annoys the crap out of me.

I first noticed it in Viridian Forest, only a couple of days after I'd met him. My first impression of him was that he was a thickheaded, overconfident, reckless little kid who was in way over his head, and I made no bones about telling him so. Then again, since we didn't know or like each other much at that point, he may have just felt intimidated by me. To be fair, I did give him quite an earful that day, but come on; the guy was trying to catch a pidgeotto with a damn _caterpie_ , not to mention the fact that he stole my bike and then burnt it to a crisp! …Argh, who am I kidding; I never cared about that worn-out, hand-me-down bike anyway.

As the weeks of traveling turned to months, and the months turned to years, I started to notice his strange quirks and mannerisms a lot more – as well as, well, him in general, but I'll come back to that. Maybe.

Out of everyone we've met, I think Team Rocket have managed to tease out this reaction the most. Whether it was the endless supply of disguises they wore or their increasingly elaborate and convoluted plans to steal Pikachu, he almost never realised it was them until the last possible second. When he did…yep, you guessed it! Utter bewilderment. I lost count of the amount of times Brock or I had to shout "Team Rocket!" purely to either snap him out of it or as a placeholder for whatever he, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, should have been saying at that moment.

Another time I noticed it happen more than usual was on Cinnabar Island over ten years ago. The riddles we were given by the man who later turned out to be the gym leader, Blaine, would have been enough to finish anybody off, so my hard-headed companion's slowness was probably justified that time. Yet, I remember the look of determination on his face as if it were yesterday; he seemed to really be trying, using that well-hidden brain of his, and, though I denied it back then, I really felt proud of him. Thankfully, I managed to work the riddles out before he hurt himself.

Of course, these sorts of instances weren't the only times I saw him lose the ability to speak. There was another specific trigger for his constant pausing, one that neither he nor I understood the reason for until years later…

Me.

Excluding that one time in Porta Vista when he made a crack about me "looking like a girl" for once, the first time I saw him react this way to me was when he saw me with my hair down at Maiden's Peak. I spent ages picking out the perfect outfit for the festival, as I wanted to look my very best for him that night; try as I might, it was getting harder and harder to deny that I'd developed a little crush on that dumb, immature pokémon trainer. Though I couldn't tell if his stunned silence was from the shock of seeing me without my ponytail and suspenders or because he thought I looked nice, it didn't seem to matter, because he had actually noticed me, and that was all I wanted.

It was quite a while before anything like that happened again. More than a year later, we met Danny, the gym leader of Navel Island and member of the Orange Crew, whom I kind of, well, had a thing for (I know, I know, it was stupid, but I'm a sucker for compliments, okay?). I didn't actually pay much attention to my dense companion that day, but Tracey filled me in afterwards on how dazed and distracted he seemed to be.

Dial that up to eleven, and you get the Trovita Island incident.

Rudy, another member of the Orange Crew, became infatuated with me after I saved his sister, and wasted no time in asking me to stay with him on the island. Needless to say, I was probably more flustered than my companion for those few days. What Rudy said to him just as we were about to leave, however, has stuck with me all these years:

"I hope you know, you're a very lucky guy."

When he asked the gym leader what he meant by that, the only response he got was, "You'll see, someday."

And there was that pause again. This one both frustrated me and presented me with a glimmer of hope, as our time on Trovita Island made me realise something, something I'd only managed to scratch the surface of before we got there; I'd completely fallen for that cap-wearing, one-track-minded moron.

I could talk about similar stories from our journey until the miltank come home, so maybe it's best that I fast-forward a few years.

When I finally told him how I felt about him, I honestly thought I'd killed him. He stood absolutely still, his eyes bulging out of his head, and his breathing slowed almost to a stop. In this instance, his reaction was less of a 'pause' and more of a 'paralysis'. He recovered quickly enough to bolt straight out of the door, though, and it took him a whole week before he slunk back with his tail between his legs to tell me that he realised he felt the same way. Yep, that was one long and tearful week for yours truly.

And yet, as annoying as they are a lot of the time, it's these little quirks and idiosyncrasies that make him the amazing, beautiful person he has always been. To others, he's probably seen as everything I've described him as thus far – brash, impulsive, stubborn, lazy, to name but a few – but to me, he's just plain old Ash Ketchum, and I'll take him exactly as he is, pauses and all.

Today, however, the day I was fully expecting to have to pummel him for what I thought would be the most egregious example ever of this particular habit, he doesn't do it. In fact, he doesn't even skip a beat as he proudly says his piece.

I don't think I've ever seen him this sure of something before – and, for Ash, that is saying a _lot_. Given the circumstances, I should be flattered beyond belief, but, in reality, I'm more shocked than anything else. Why isn't he spacing out? Why, after this giant, internal rant I've just had, does he pick now to go all sensible and make me seem like a lying, pedantic b-

"Psst. Misty?"

The deep, subdued whisper of the man in question shakes me from my reverie, and I look up to see his chocolate-brown eyes staring at me, a slightly worried expression on his face. Looking around at the rows of people across the room doing the same, a sudden leap of my heart reminds me instantly of where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Uhhhhh…"

My disorientation prompts the elderly, stone-faced man next to us to repeat the question, causing Ash to squeeze my hand and me to mentally slap myself with it. I can't believe it; after everything I've just said, now _I'm_ the one who's been caught pausing? That dense, infuriating, kind-hearted, lovable idiot has somehow managed to make me eat my words without me having ever actually said them. Ironically, though, the words he's looking for me to say are, in fact, the best way I can get him back for this...

"I do."


	4. Crevice

"MISTY! MISTY! COME QUICK! YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS!"

An energetic young man burst through the front doors of the Cerulean City gym, his faithful pikachu perched atop his left shoulder. His face was flushed from running, and the tufts of black hair creeping down around his bright red cap were damp with sweat, but the boy remained undeterred, grinning from ear to ear as he whooshed across the foyer and bulldozed his way through the double doors to the battle arena.

"Ok, Jolteon, use Thunder Wave!"

"Gyarados, Protect!"

Upon entering the pool area, the excited pokémon trainer was greeted by the familiar sight of a heated gym battle. A few feet in front of him was the challenger, a boy no older than thirteen, facing forward across the pool while their electric eeveelution prepared to launch its attack. At the other end of the arena was the very person he had travelled all the way to Cerulean City to see, her bright orange hair instantly catching his eye. Mostly obscured by the towering blue serpent in front of her, she appeared as little more than an orange and yellow blur, and he briefly lost sight of her completely as the two pokémon's moves collided, resulting in a flash of blinding white light.

"Now, Gyarados, Hyper Be- huh?"

The gym leader paused as her eyes landed on the newest occupant of the battle arena, staring over at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Her momentary period of indecision created the perfect opportunity for the opponent to launch his counter-attack.

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt!"

Seconds later, the entire pool was illuminated by a powerful blast of lightning, and, with a huge splash, the exhausted gyarados collapsed dramatically into the water.

"Alright!" exclaimed the winner of the match, returning his jolteon and walking over to his opponent's side of the gym. The opponent in question shot a murderous look at her hat-wearing distractor before presenting the boy in front of her with his shiny new Cascade Badge.

Just as the young trainer was about to leave, he suddenly caught sight of the older man in the doorway, his eyes widening in shock.

"Oh my god, you're…you're p-pokémon master Ash Ketchum!"

Ash nodded sheepishly, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as the disgruntled redhead made her way over to them.

"That's _former_ pokémon master Ash Ketchum," she corrected smugly.

The trainer appeared confused. "Oh? Why is that?"

The smirking gym leader twirled a short strand of hair around her finger before dryly stating, "Because I'm about to kill him."

Ash resisted the urge to chuckle as the trainer gave a nervous smile before swiftly exiting the gym without another word. He then turned around to face his best friend, who was slowly inching towards him, hands behind her back in a faux 'innocent' fashion. The next thing he knew, those same hands had him pinned roughly against the wall.

"You've got five seconds to explain to me why you've just broken my longest winning streak in three years," she growled, her face exceedingly close to his.

"Ow! Wait, Misty, I can explain!" he stuttered somewhat breathlessly.

"Five…"

"It's right here! I can show you if you'll just let go of me!"

"Four…" she continued coldly.

"Come on! You'll like it, I swear!"

Misty could not deny that her curiosity was building with every new thing the flustered boy said, but she was not about to back down now. "Three…"

"ARGH, FINE!" the captive boy blurted out. "I GOT US ACCESS TO CERULEAN CAVE!"

As soon as the words left Ash's mouth, he noticed his assailant's eyes flash with something he had not seen for years. It was childlike, pure, a look of sheer excitement that took him right back to the first years of his pokémon journey.

"Really?" she murmured, releasing him from her grasp.

"Yeah, isn't it great? Take a look!"

He reached beneath the collar of his black T-shirt and produced a small, square lanyard emblazoned with the instantly recognisable Pokémon League 'P'. The words 'Pokémon Master' stretched all the way around the maroon strap in bold, white letters, and an official photograph of Ash on the day of his Indigo League victory lay in the centre of the square. As Misty leaned forward to skim-read through the pompous jargon plastered around the picture, the goofy smile she had been holding back finally made its way to the surface.

"Oh my god!" she gasped, jumping up and down on the spot. "This is so exciting! Finally, after all these years! Oh, you'll have to tell me everything when you get back!"

"What do you mean, 'when I get back'?" a puzzled Ash asked. "Aren't you coming with me?"

Misty stopped celebrating and turned back to look her best friend in the eye. "What? Ash, you know I can't go! Only pokémon masters and people with special permission from the Pokémon League are allowed in, remember?"

Reaching into his pocket, Ash pulled out another lanyard, identical to his aside from the photo of Misty in the centre.

"I pulled a few strings back at Indigo Plateau," he explained, smiling proudly. "I told the board that your skill could rival any pokémon master this side of the solar system, and they agreed. You're now an honorary pokémon master, Mist! Oh, and I also convinced them to give me a plus-one, provided it was someone with decent battling experience, so Brock's coming too! It's gonna be just like the old days, right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" the electric mouse squeaked enthusiastically.

Misty stood motionless in front of the gushing duo, closing her eyes as she tried to make sense of everything she had just heard. Her breath caught in her throat, leaving her unable to respond for a short while, but she eventually managed to shake it off.

"Ash, you…you did all of this…f-for me?"

The pokémon master gave her a warm smile. "Of course I did, Misty. Remember all those stories we made up about Cerulean Cave when we were little, all the times we talked about exploring it once we became pokémon masters? Well, we've finally been given that chance now, Mist; this is like a dream come true for us, and it just wouldn't be the same without you there to experience it with me."

For the second time in as many minutes, the Cerulean gym leader was lost for words. Ash wasn't particularly known for his thoughtfulness on matters that didn't involve pokémon, especially when it came to his famously rocky relationship with Misty; yet, every so often, the naïve pokémon master somehow knew exactly the right thing to say or do, and it was in these moments that the fiery redhead was reminded, beyond any doubt, why he was her best friend in the world.

"Oh, Ash! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Misty squealed happily as she flung her arms around the young man's torso, squeezing him tightly. Ash stumbled backwards slightly from the impact, blushing at the warmth of her cheek against his chest, but gradually settled into the impromptu hug, resting his chin gently atop her orange head.

"So, er, I was thinking Sunday morning?" he mumbled, pulling away slowly.

"Sounds good! Sunday's my day off anyway," Misty answered cheerily.

"But," she continued, her tone changing to one decidedly more sinister, "as nice a surprise as this was, you did ruin my chances of breaking the record for most gym leader victories in a row, so…"

Her words died away eerily, and she smiled a wicked smile as her trusty mallet materialised out of thin air, but, before the pokémon master could react, the familiar weapon had already connected powerfully – and loudly – with the top of his head.

* * *

Cerulean Cave. The very mention of its name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of newbie trainers all across the region. Ever in plain sight but always just out of reach, the secrecy surrounding the heavily guarded labyrinth had led some to believe that it was home to some of the rarest and most dangerous pokémon in the world. Ash and Misty were no strangers to such rumours, having added to them significantly in their childhood. Needless to say, then, the cave's rather daunting reputation preceded it, but, for Ash, the chance to explore such a place also represented a kind of 'final reward' for mastering the art of pokémon training, one last ultimate challenge to overcome before settling into a full-time position at the Indigo Plateau, and he would be damned if he was going to pass up this precious, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The early morning sun was beating down on the trio of young adults as they crossed the small stretch of water separating the cave and the mainland on Misty's gyarados. Approaching the entrance, a gruff security guard inspected their IDs thoroughly before fitting them each with a bright headlamp and feeding them a tedious lecture on what to do in the event of a cave-in and other such safety procedures. Ash could barely contain his excitement, but Misty and Brock managed to keep him from darting straight into the cave by clamping a hand down on each of his shoulders.

Once the guard was satisfied with his security checks, the group was finally allowed to enter through the craggy, arched opening in the rock face. Rows of circular lamps lined the walls of the narrow tunnels, dimly mapping out a pathway for the three friends to follow, yet the deeper into the cave they ventured, the less the light seemed to be able to penetrate the thick, overwhelming darkness that surrounded them. Misty, though initially as enthusiastic as her two male friends, gradually felt a sense of panic rise from within her as she began to wonder whether or not they had bitten off more than they could chew with this particular expedition.

"Um, are you sure these headlamps won't, you know, er, anger the pokémon?" she mumbled nervously.

"Don't worry, Misty," reassured Brock in the calming, fatherly tone he had perfected over the years. "The light from these lamps is from a part of the light spectrum that cave-dwelling pokémon can't see, so we're not in any danger just walking around like this."

The gym leader could barely see the older pokémon breeder beside her, but turned to nod anyway, trying to find some comfort in his short but helpful explanation. Neither the darkness nor the danger seemed to faze Ash, however, who was positively beside himself with joy. The light from his headlamp zigzagged left and right as he and Pikachu careened merrily through the cavernous expanse, slaloming between the clusters of stalagmites that littered the entire area.

"Isn't this amazing?" he called back at the highest volume the cave regulations permitted, which was just above a whisper.

"Ash, stop running around, you're going to bump into something!" Misty hissed.

"Pfft, you worry too much, Mist. We've been waiting for this for over ten years; let's go catch some pokémon!"

The red-haired girl blushed slightly at the mention of Ash's unique nickname for her, then shrugged in defeat before she and Brock sped up to join their excitable friend further ahead.

Over the next hour, Ash, Misty and Brock continued their traversal of the ominous paths and passageways of Cerulean Cave, every step they took wrapping them tighter in the eerily clandestine atmosphere that the legendary location exuded. How such a place could be situated so close to a practically paradisiacal city was a mystery in its own right. The wild pokémon they encountered were, indeed, forces to be reckoned with, putting up long and formidable fights before managing to flee effortlessly from the trio time after time. Of course, this was not enough to dampen the spirits of the young pokémon master, who was still having the time of his life.

"Come on, guys, we must be getting close now!" he beamed, beckoning them with his hand. "I've heard that Mewtwo settled here after the last time we saw him, that he's waiting for trainers in the deepest corner of the cave; how cool would it be to run into him again after all these years?"

Brock snorted, brushing rubble off the shoulders of his dark green jacket. "You know that's just a myth, right? We're probably the last people who saw Mewtwo and actually remembered it."

"Brock, this whole place is built on myths and rumours! Who's to say which are true and which aren't? And hey, even if he's not here, there's still supposed to be plenty of super rare pokémon in these caves, and I wanna get me as many as I can carry; you with me?"

Misty smiled to herself, shaking her head in a kind of playful incredulity. There were times when she envied that boy's unwavering energy and passion for exploration. Although this trademark characteristic had got them into trouble more times than she cared to count, the swift reddening of her cheeks prevented her from denying just how much she admired him for it. It was pretty much the whole reason she had followed him in the first place, and, over time, she came to realise that some of his finest qualities had begun to rub off on her. She sighed tenderly; whether he knew he was doing it or not, Ash Ketchum sure knew how to bring out the best in people.

"And what's with all these pokéballs lying around everywhere?" the man in question continued, bending down to add another discarded red sphere to his now bagful of cave loot. "This one has a hyper potion in it, and the one back there had a rare candy! Well, waste not, want not, I say – this place is better than a pokémart!"

As Ash continued to boast proudly of his talent for item foraging, the intrigued redhead across from him instantly felt her childish impulses take over, her fear of her spooky surroundings all but forgotten.

"Hey, no fair! Quit hogging all the stuff; I want to find the next one!"

The boy turned around, bathing his best friend's lithe silhouette in his torchlight. "Well you're gonna have to be quick, Misty, 'cause they're going fa- ooh, there's one!"

Misty could not tell exactly where the pokémon master was pointing, but, tracing her eyes along the beam of light from his headlamp, she noticed a glimmer of red poking out from inside a tall, pillar-like rock.

"Uh-uh, Ketchum, this one's mine!"

Briefly meeting each other's determined gazes, the two impish young adults raced over to the rock, pushing and shoving each other as they both clawed for ownership of the pokéball within the rock. As they got closer, they noticed a number of small holes in the eroding stone, roughly large enough to fit an arm through, and Ash did not waste any time in doing just that.

"Almost got it," he grunted through gritted teeth, his left arm buried up to the shoulder in the enormous obelisk.

"Oh no you don't!" Misty exclaimed, leaping over to the opposite side of the rock and picking out a similar-sized hole to thread her arm through. Their two hands almost met in the middle, but, like Ash, the prize remained just out of her reach.

"Dammit," Ash whined. "Maybe if I try the other arm…"

As the pokémon master tried to release himself from the crevice, however, he found that his arm would not budge.

"What the…ow, I'm s-stuck!"

"M-me too!" Misty wailed across from the other side. At that moment, Brock rushed over to his two ensnared younger friends.

"Oh my god, how did this happen?" he asked somewhat tiredly.

"We were trying to get that pokéball in the rock and now our arms are stuck!" Ash whimpered in an utterly juvenile manner.

"Yep, that sounds about right," he replied, shaking his head. "Well, just stay calm while I try and get you out of there."

Walking over to Ash's side, he placed his hands around the distressed boy's shoulder and began to pull gently. Ash groaned in discomfort throughout the entire process, but his arm showed no signs of dislodging from its stone prison. Sighing, Brock then repeated this method with Misty to exactly the same result.

"Can't we just use our pokémon to cut up the rock?" Ash suggested impatiently.

"Hmm," the pokémon breeder pondered, stroking his chin. "Well all I've got with me are Steelix and Geodude, and neither of them seem particularly suited for a task as, er, delicate as this."

"What about Pikachu then? I bet he could Iron Tail us out of here in no time!"

"Ash, don't be stupid!" Misty barked at him around the rock. "None of our pokémon come from caves; they can't see in the dark any better than we can, and I, for one, don't want to lose my hand to a blind, poorly judged Iron Tail attack! Er, no offence, Pikachu."

At the base of the obelisk, the yellow mouse sheepishly scratched the back of his head in a way that resembled his trainer.

"Guys, guys, there's a logical solution to this," Brock began. "I'll just go back up to the entrance and get those Pokémon League officials to bring down some of their fancy equipment to get you out!"

"But Brock, we've been walking through this cave for over an hour. It's going to take you ages!" an agitated Misty reminded him.

"If I take Pikachu with me, he should be able to help me find my way out in half the time," he replied.

Ash and Misty remained silent for a brief moment, trying in vain to stretch their bodies around the large rock to glare at each other before simultaneously nodding dejectedly at their wise older friend.

Scooping Pikachu up onto his shoulder, Brock turned around, calling back, "I'll be as quick as I can, okay? Try not to kill each other while I'm gone."

With that, the toned silhouette of the pokémon breeder disappeared into the blackness of the cave, his echoing footsteps gradually fading to nothing.

Another silence hung over the unfortunate duo, this time infinitely more awkward and uncomfortable. The maddening sound of falling water droplets resonated through the vast cavern, and a faint rumbling could be heard in the distance, though the source of it was nowhere to be seen. Ash leant his head against the rock, wincing while rubbing the pinched skin around his trapped shoulder. This was not how he had expected his first trip to Cerulean Cave to go. A few feet away, his redheaded friend was markedly less accepting of the whole situation, and a forceful slap of her free hand against the rock caused the pokémon master to virtually jump out of his skin.

"Well this is just great, Ash!" she spat, trying her best to keep her voice down. "Just perfect! 'Oh hey, Misty, let's go on an adventure like we used to! It'll be really fun, and I promise I won't be the dumbest moron on the planet and get us both stuck in some rock!' Honestly, you never cease to amaze me. Just when I start to think you couldn't possibly get any stupider-"

"Well you're more than welcome to walk away and leave me here," Ash snapped back at her sarcastically. "Oh wait, that's right, you can't! Like it or not, Misty, we're both stuck here until Brock gets back, and this time it's just as much your fault as it is mine!"

The infuriated gym leader attempted to stutter out a series of petty retorts, but quickly gave up as she realised that her impulsive friend had a point. She had, after all, stuck her hand in that narrow opening entirely of her own choosing. Huffing bitterly at the obscured boy in front of her, Misty ran her hand down her flushed face before resting it on her hip.

"How are we supposed to catch any pokémon now?" she continued. "I was looking forward to this all weekend! Do you have any idea how many rare species of water pokémon are rumoured to live in these caves? This would have been the perfect opportunity to try my new fishing rod out, but oh no, guess this rock had other ideas, huh?"

While Ash could sympathise with his water-obsessed friend's distress, the sound of her complaining was not one he was prepared to listen to for the majority of the next hour. "It's not all about you, you know; I was looking forward to this too! If I'd known you were so bothered about that pokéball I would have just given you some of these!" He gestured towards his backpack, forgetting that she could not see him. "Would've spared me some of your whinging, at least."

Misty absorbed Ash's words with a strange ambivalence. On the one hand, she felt flattered by his charitable offer, despite the way he said it; on the other hand, however, they were in the middle of an argument, and there was no way she was going to take that last little comment.

"You can stick your pokéballs! I'll whinge as much as I damn well like!"

"Well fine, go ahead, see if I care!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FI-"

Were she not submerged in almost pitch darkness, the fuming young woman would undoubtedly have been seeing red. She managed to cut herself off before her inevitable uproar brought the place down on their heads, and spent the next few moments venting out her anger by growling and smacking the stone to which she was bound. Once the animosity in the air began to dissipate, a pair of synchronised sighs from the two stubborn pokémon masters plunged the cavern back into agonising, lingering silence.

Misty stared guiltily down at her sneakers. She did not mean to constantly start fights with her best friend. Whether it was due to the years of pent-up anger towards her selfish older sisters or something hidden deep within her genes, her short temper had always been a problem, especially where other people were concerned. With Ash, though, it was not the same. He was the only person she had ever met who could match the ferocity she unleashed, the only one whose fire was not instantly doused by her water, and this made her a different kind of angry, teased out something almost primal in the gym leader that she both adored and despised. Of course, she knew exactly why this was – as did everyone else the pair had ever met, she feared – but she knew that that was still a poor excuse to be needlessly unkind to her oldest and most valued friend. Before she had the chance to formulate some kind of apology, however, the friend in question beat her to the punch.

"I really have ruined this, haven't I?"

Though Misty still couldn't see him, the despondent tone in the boy's voice presented her with a crystal clear image of the sullen expression on his face. It was one she had seen many times before, usually appearing after the loss of a pokémon battle, and every one of those times it succeeded in melting her heart.

That being said, it was unusual of Ash Ketchum in any context to accept when he was wrong.

"What?"

He took a sharp inhale before answering. "You're right – I have messed this up. I wanted today to be so perfect, you know? The old gang getting back together for an adventure after so many years, and in Cerulean Cave of all places, somewhere we've been dreaming about visiting since we were kids! I thought to myself, 'what could go wrong?' But then we got here, and I just got so carried away, and I saw the pokéballs, and-"

"Ash," she silenced him, her voice soft but firm, "you haven't ruined anything."

"How can you say that?"

"Look, don't be so hard on yourself, okay? This was an accident, even if I might have implied before that it was your fault. We were all having a good time before this happened, and as soon as we get out of here, we can go straight back to having a good time again. We'll go catch the biggest, coolest pokémon in this place; sound good?"

Ash smiled, instantly feeling much better. "Yeah. Thanks, Misty."

"No problem, Ash."

Though the pokémon master used to resent his volatile friend for lecturing him and babying him like she was his mother, he could not deny that her words almost always resonated profoundly with him, and, right now, he could not have been more thankful that she never grew out of this particular trait.

"So, are there any specific ones you're after?" she asked, this time in a cheerier voice.

"Sure there are!" Ash replied as his boyish energy returned to him immediately. "I've heard the machoke here are second to none, and, well, it's a cave, so there's bound to be some awesome rock and ground types around here somewhere. Also, someone at the League told me about a parasect he caught here, and-"

Misty's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates upon hearing the name of the disturbing, mushroom-shaped bug pokémon.

"P-P-Parasect?!" she stammered, her legs turning to jelly. "You didn't tell m-me there were…b-bugs in here!"

Normally, Ash would have seized this opportunity to torment his friend relentlessly for her childish phobia of bug pokémon; after the thoughtful and comforting words she had just spoken to him, however, he felt he could not quite bring himself to.

"Misty, calm down, I was just jo-"

"We've got to get out of here now!" she screamed, planting her feet on the sides of the rock in an attempt to yank her arm out of the crevice. "Brock, where are you? BROCK! HELP! Oh god, I feel something on my leg! It's a disgusting parasect; I just know it! I'll kill you for this, Ash!"

Rolling his eyes, Ash sunk his arm as deep into the hole as it would go, feeling around for a moment before locating the frantic Misty's hand and grasping it firmly.

"Misty, listen to me! There is nothing on your leg! Just breathe, okay? Breathe!"

As soon she felt something touch her skin, Misty's panicking briefly increased, but when she realised what it was, her breathing slowed and her feet slipped slowly back down to the ground. A fresh blush crept across her face, and she considered pulling away, but the intoxicating feeling of his warm, gloved palm and soft fingertips coiling around her hand was making her feel calmer than she had felt since before they entered the cave.

"I'm here, Mist," whispered Ash, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Th-Thank you," she managed to splutter, fanning her cheeks with her free hand.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to be honest when you asked me about what I was going to catch."

"I know," she replied, smiling slightly. "It's not your fault. Just don't mention, er, you-know-whats again."

Ash raised an eyebrow in confusion, his face turning pink. "You-know-whats? What have my underwear got to do with this? Have you been talking to my mom?"

"That's not what I meant!" Misty groaned, giggling before quickly adding, "Forget it."

Neither Ash nor Misty said anything for a while after that, but remained holding hands in the silence of Cerulean Cave. The simple contact seemed to calm the two young adults immeasurably as they waited patiently for their rescuers to arrive. The two beams of light from their respective headlamps were pretty much all they could see, and they occasionally focused on the same spot playfully or chased each other's light around to pass the time. Ash's body was pressed up against the rock, his head resting on it sideways, and his free hand lay flat against the rough stone pillar; unbeknownst to him, Misty stood in almost the exact same pose on the other side.

As the gym leader felt Ash's thumb gently stroking the back of her smooth hand, a startling wave of emotion motivated her to speak once again.

"Ash, I've er…got something to tell you. It's, um, something I don't think I'll be able to say once Brock gets back, so I want to, er, you know…say it now."

The pokémon master did not move, but the lightness and sincerity in his friend's voice piqued his curiosity, and he made a short, humming noise that signalled her to go on.

"Well, it's just that, er, I'm really glad you're back in Kanto for good now. Since we've started hanging out more on our days off, I've just been thinking about how much I, well, missed you when you were off traveling, and I'm happy that we get to see each other quite a lot now. I know you wanted this day to be perfect, and, to be honest, I did too, but you know what? We may not have caught any pokémon, and we may be trapped in a rock in the middle of a pitch-black cave, but, in a way, I've kinda enjoyed being with you here, you know? Even if we've been fighting most of the time – it's not often it's just, erm, the two of us like this. Who cares if this trip hasn't quite gone as planned…b-because I think it's perfect just the way it is."

Misty took a series of deep breaths to compose herself after her heartfelt speech, tugging on her side ponytail bashfully as she summarised the words in her head. Across from her, Ash found himself lost in a stunned silence. He and Misty had always been best friends, but he had never heard the mechanics of this friendship expressed in so many words before, and was completely bowled over by just how much he meant to her. Taking a moment to piece together the thoughts rattling around his brain, he opened his mouth to respond.

"Thanks, Misty," he began, his voice a little shaky. "I missed hanging out with you, too. I was looking forward to coming home for a long time, ever since I qualified for the Indigo League. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love traveling so much, but Kanto is my home, and I-"

The young man's monologue was abruptly broken off by a loud roar coming from within the dark void in front of them. All of a sudden, an imposing shape roughly the height of a person emerged from the darkness, its piercing red eyes standing out against its jagged, grey hide.

"A-Ash," Misty whimpered, "is that…?"

"A rhydon," he replied, the shakiness in his voice only increasing. "We must have woken it up when we were fighting."

"What do we do?"

"I don't know. Just try and stay still; maybe it won't be able to see us."

Ash's theory proved to be incorrect, however, as the rhydon scraped its feet backwards along the ground, preparing to charge. Moments later, to a chorus of terrified screams from the helpless duo, the agitated pokémon rammed its head into the giant obelisk, shattering it like glass and sending its two former captives flying halfway across the cave.

"Ow…" Ash groaned, stumbling to his feet. "Misty, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," she winced, prodding at a small cut on her forehead.

The rhydon seemed unfazed by its collision with the boulder, repositioning itself to charge once more.

"Oh god, it's coming back!" Misty yelled. "Ash, we've got to move!"

"Where?"

"ANYWHERE!"

Without a second thought, Ash and Misty began to sprint manically across the cave, weaving their way through the winding tunnels and ducking under the rows of low-hanging stalactites. The rhydon pursued them all the way, crashing through the stony obstacles as if they were made of paper, and each earth-shattering growl it let out made the duo feel sick to their stomachs.

"It's gaining on us!" Ash shouted, reaching for the pokéballs on his belt. "We have to slow it down!"

"Ash, there's no time, it's right behind us!"

The pair reached another wide-open area, trying their best to maintain their speed as they bolted towards the middle of the cavern. The intimidating Drill Pokémon was only a few seconds behind them, leaning forward with its thick, sharp horn pointed at its target. At that moment, a sudden divot in the ground caused both Ash and Misty to lose their footing, and, with a couple of startled yelps, they collapsed to the floor, quickly scooting towards each other for protection.

The rhydon, sensing its victory, began to charge faster, and all the two petrified friends could do was hold onto each other tightly, heads down and eyes shut as they waited for the impact…

"Steelix, Tackle!"

With an almighty roar, the enormous, metallic snake came gliding into the cavern from one of the adjoining tunnels, dipping its head before battering powerfully into the charging rhydon and sending it crashing into a bed of stalagmites. A tanned, spiky-haired figure then stepped off Steelix's tail, making his way over to the curled-up Ash and Misty.

"So, you didn't kill each other after all, eh?" he laughed.

"Brock!" they both exclaimed as their older friend helped them to their feet.

"Pikapi! Pikachupi!" squealed Pikachu, hopping off the pokémon breeder's shoulder and onto his trainer's head.

"How'd you find us?" Ash asked.

"Be right with you, Ash. Gotta take care of this first." Brock grinned, turning on his heel to face his monstrous pokémon.

"Okay, Steelix, Iron Tail!"

The dazed rhydon had only just picked itself up when the colossal tail of Brock's signature pokémon slammed it back into the ground, leaving it severely weakened.

Brock reached for his belt, enlarging a tiny red sphere in his hands. "Now, pokéball, go!"

With that, the ball hurtled through the air towards the semi-conscious rhydon, swallowing it up with a swish of red light and snapping shut with a victorious 'ping'.

"Yes!" exclaimed Brock, punching the air. "I caught rhydon!"

Ash and Misty watched in amazement as their older friend turned back to face them. "And, if I'm not mistaken," he began smugly, "this is the only catch any of us has made today, so I win! Unless you two caught the _love bug_ while Pikachu and I were gone, of course."

The two blushing young adults refrained from slapping Brock in the face just long enough for Misty to reiterate, "So, how _did_ you find us? And weren't you supposed to bring help?"

Brock shrugged. "We never actually made it all the way back to the entrance. As soon as we heard you guys screaming, we turned back straight away. Be thankful Pikachu was able to find us a shortcut, or else you guys would've been toast!"

Ash reached up to his hat, stroking the purring electric mouse behind the ears before Brock spoke up once again. "So, anyone wanna blow this place and get some lunch? I get the impression we've all had enough of Cerulean Cave for one day."

The duo nodded in agreement, following the chuckling pokémon breeder as he led them back along the tunnel he had appeared from moments ago. Ash and Misty occasionally glanced over at each other, smiling or making a face, but otherwise said nothing, perfectly content to walk side-by-side in a comfortable silence. Their first experience in Cerulean Cave had certainly been a memorable one, if not for the reasons they were expecting; though peppered with their obligatory bickering and quarrelling, the pair's time imprisoned within the rock had somehow brought them closer together, which was something that neither of them would be quick to forget.

Perhaps it went unnoticed, or perhaps they were all too aware, but, ever since that fateful moment in the depths of the cave, the two best friends had never let go of the other's hand.


	5. Major

"Okay, Ash, what's…this one?"

"Er…G?"

"Nope, try again."

"B?"

"That's the one next to it."

"Ah, I see…F?"

"Seriously? In what universe is F next to B?! It's the alphabet, for crying out loud!"

"Misty, this is boring. Can't we do something else?"

"Not until I'm convinced you've taken in at least one thing I've tried to teach you in the last half an hour. Let's try another one…here, this one at the end."

"Ugh."

"Just answer the question, Ash."

"Alright, alright…er…J?"

In a swift, whooshing motion, the impatient redhead lunged forward, slamming the heavy lid of the mahogany piano down on the poor boy's fingers.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" Misty shouted as the wounded Ash rubbed his seething hands beside her on the piano stool. "Musical notes go from 'A' to 'G'! Where the hell did you get 'J' from?! You've paid no attention to me the entire time we've been doing this!"

Ash pouted, straightening his hat as he stood up and walked over to the large window of Professor Oak's living room.

"Well you told me playing the piano was going to be fun, but all you've done is pointed at those white buttons and yelled at me when I got them wrong! Why couldn't we have just played with the pokémon on the reserve?"

Rolling her eyes, Misty pointed over the top of the piano towards the window her friend was standing in front of.

"That's why!" she snapped, directing the boy's attention to the raging thunderstorm outside. Thick, heavy raindrops pounded on the glass, and a blanket of sinister clouds loomed high in the Pallet Town sky, intermittently bursting to life with violent flashes of lightning and guttural crashes of thunder.

"You've already snubbed all of the books lying around here, and Tracey's busy with research upstairs in the lab, so what else are we supposed to do?" she continued. "Mrs. Ketchum was very clear about us not going back to the house until she and Brock finished painting."

Ash growled, absentmindedly kicking over one of the aforementioned piles of books cluttering the floor. A plume of dust rose up from the debris, entering his nose and sending him into a mild sneezing fit. Once he recovered, he turned to his best friend with a hopeful smile on his face. "Wanna play hide and seek?"

Across the room, Misty swivelled around on the piano stool, smirking incredulously. "Ash, we're 16 now; hide and seek doesn't quite have the appeal it used to. And, until the Professor's finished his experiment upstairs, we're pretty much confined to this room, so how much fun is that going to be?"

In typical Ash Ketchum fashion, though, the pokémon trainer was unfazed by her naysaying. "Ah, but that's where the skill comes in, huh, Mist?"

"Whatever," she tutted before turning back to the piano and beginning to play a soft, lyrical melody. She closed her eyes as her playing intensified, fingers skipping gracefully over the keys like a surskit across the water. Atop the battered old piano were Pikachu and Azurill, trilling happily and giggling from the vibrations of the strings inside. Ash watched the scene with a mixture of emotions; sure, the fact that his request was being ignored annoyed him to no end, but, looking at the entranced girl as she swayed back and forth, her orange ponytail bobbing up and down with every note she played, a strange warmness seemed to overcome him, causing his cheeks to turn an alarming shade of pink. The former won out in the end, however, and, creeping over to his unaware friend's side, his arm slunk gradually forward …

BANG!

The sudden dissonance of Ash's palm slapping down across the keyboard sent Misty toppling over the back of the stool, yelping in surprise and pain. As she stared dazedly up at the ceiling, a grinning, upside-down face appeared above her, and she dug her fingernails into the carpet to keep herself from blushing wildly.

"You know what I think?" the face said, his voice deep and mischievous. "I think you're just afraid I'm going to win."

As soon as the boy's audacious words reached her ears, Misty leapt up from the ground, almost headbutting him in the process. "WHAT?! I only said no because it's a stupid idea! I'm not _afraid_!"

"Well, I think you are."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"My god, are you two at it again?"

Just as the flustered girl was about to jam her provocative friend's head in the very instrument he had torn her away from, a familiar voice from the doorway jarred the two hotheaded teenagers from their petty squabbling. Looking around, their eyes landed on a tall, green-haired man in a white lab coat, his trademark sketchpad under his arm.

"Uh, hey, Tracey," Ash said, scratching the back of his head. At that moment, another figure appeared from around the door, his identical lab coat open at the buttons to reveal a purple shirt and a green and yellow pendant dangling from his neck.

"Well, look who it is!" sneered the man, vainly flicking his spiky, brown hair. "And hey, you've brought your girlfriend, too! Say, Red, how come you're still hanging around this loser, eh?"

"Always a pleasure, Gary," Misty smiled sourly, while Ash just growled.

"So, what have you guys been up to down here?" Tracey asked amicably. "I heard someone on the piano before; was that you?"

Misty giggled slightly. "Yeah. I was trying to teach Ash some things, but, well, you know how he is."

"You know I'm right here, don't you?" Ash reminded her indignantly.

"Well, Ashy-boy," Gary began teasingly, "if musicality isn't for you, then I'm sure you won't mind if I try my hand at it."

Before the pokémon trainer could answer, his old rival had already sat himself down on the piano stool, winking over at him cockily. After cracking his knuckles as melodramatically as possible, he then broke into a near-flawless rendition of a classical sonata, his hands a blur as they dashed across the ivory keys. Misty and Tracey were captivated by the hidden virtuosity of their researcher friend, but Ash was left speechless, his mouth hanging open at the scene playing out before him. Gary Oak always seemed to be one step ahead of him – be it pokémon caught, battling experience, style, popularity; he constantly managed to come out on top – and now this? Jealousy surged within the pokémon trainer's chest as he watched his tormentor purposely exaggerate every stroke and flourish of his performance. Perhaps most disturbing for the boy, however, was that Gary's eyes had never left his the whole time.

As the multi-talented maestro came to the end of his piece, he stood up straight, hammering out the final cadence before turning around to a shower of applause. He bowed before his astonished audience and blew a series of kisses into the air, each of which made Ash's blood boil that much hotter.

"Thank you, thank you," he remarked casually, fastening up his lab coat and looking down at his watch. "We should probably get back before Gramps blows the place up, eh, Tracey?"

The docile pokémon watcher nodded, briefly bidding Ash, Misty and their pokémon goodbye then making his way over to the doorway. Gary promptly followed suit, but not before stopping to look haughtily over his shoulder at an exasperated Ash.

"Keep practicing, won't you, Ashy?" he grinned condescendingly. "At this rate, you could be a pro in only – hmm, let's think – 50, maybe 60 years?"

Then, without another word, he disappeared down the hall, the space in the living room he had previously occupied immediately filled by a deep, crushing silence.

"That's it!" cried Ash, causing Misty to jump. "I'm sick and tired of Gary always acting like he's better than me! Well, I'll show him; I'll play this damn piano better than anyone's ever played it before, and you're gonna teach me!"

He leapt back over to the piano stool, pointing a gloved hand across at his bemused best friend before sheepishly adding, "Um, I mean, please."

Misty's expression remained neutral, but inside, feelings of both frustration and sympathy were threatening to bubble to the surface. The boy was clearly oblivious to the fact that what he was asking of her was exactly what she had been trying to offer him ever since they had arrived at Professor Oak's lab. Yet, the undertone of hurt in his voice was hard to ignore; Gary Oak had a knack for teasing out Ash's rawest, most visceral emotions, and, though it pained her to admit it, seeing her best friend left in such a vulnerable state was enough to melt the young girl's heart.

Shrugging, she ambled back over to the stool and squashed herself on the end, supressing a shiver at the warmth of the pokémon trainer brushing against her side.

"So…" she began, attempting to diffuse the awkwardness she had created for herself, "I didn't know Gary could play like that."

Ash snorted bitterly. "Me neither. Figures, though – his parents were always super rich, so they probably put him in for lessons as soon as he could walk. Come to think of it, how come _you_ can play?"

"Are you kidding? I've lived in a theatre my whole life, so there was never a shortage of musical instruments around when I was little. A few years before I met you, one of my babysitters offered to teach me some things on the piano, and I ended up taking these kinds of 'masterclasses' from her every week for about a year."

"Ah, so that's how you know what all these buttons and stuff are called!" Ash concluded.

Misty stifled a giggle at her friend's enviable innocence. "Lesson number one, Ash; they're called keys, not buttons. Lesson number two, feet off the pedals before I break them off."

The gym leader's new pupil immediately complied, laughing nervously as his leg shuffled back underneath the stool from the row of metal foot pedals at the bottom of the piano.

"Hey, what's that thing called where you press loads of buttons – er, sorry, keys – together like this?" Ash made a jabbing motion in mid-air with his fingers splayed out like spinarak legs.

"Don't interrupt me!" snapped the redhead all of a sudden. When she noticed the startled expression on her friend's face, however, she sighed, mentally slapping herself for her lack of patience.

"You mean a chord?" she answered a few seconds later, trying to sound as friendly as she could after her outburst. "Here, let me show you."

Ash watched Misty raise her hand up to the keyboard, contorting it into an intricate shape and bringing it down on three keys in close proximity to each other. The combination of notes resulted in a bright, cheerful-sounding harmony.

"See this?" She pointed to her fingers on the keys. "This is the chord of A major."

"A major what?"

Another light giggle escaped from Misty's throat. "No, Ash, it's just A major. And here, check this out."

Eyes still fixed on the confused-looking Ash, Misty shifted her middle finger slightly to the left, producing a significantly darker and more sombre tone from the instrument.

"When I change the middle note, it becomes A minor."

Ash's head shot up, and, for the first time in the conversation, it seemed like the boy actually understood what his friend was talking about. "Hey, I'm one of those!"

Perplexed, Misty cocked her head to the side as he gleefully continued. "Brock always calls me that when I ask to watch one of his movies with him – you know, the ones he keeps at the bottom of his bag with the three 'X's on the fro-"

Before the blissfully unaware Ash could dig himself into an even deeper hole, Misty reached over and clamped a hand over his mouth, blushing intensely from embarrassment. Even at 16 years of age, her best friend could still sometimes be as naïve as the day she fished him out of that river.

"Okayyy, then." She sighed, removing her hand from Ash's mouth and using it to massage her temples. "You know what? Screw the music theory; let's actually play something, hmm?"

The pokémon trainer nodded, deciding it was perhaps best not to offer his anecdotal insights from here on out.

She held up her hand in a peculiar position. "Put your first, third and fifth fingers forward to make this shape here."

Suddenly, Ash's face lit up. "Like Mewtwo?"

Tutting under her breath, she punched him jokingly in the shoulder. Of course he'd find a way to bring pokémon into this. "Yes, Ash, like Mewtwo. Now, press them down on the keys I just pressed before."

"Ok…"

To Misty's surprise, Ash confidently placed his hand down in the exact position she had pointed out to him, summoning a beautiful and harmonious chord from within the piano.

"Now this," she demonstrated, and, once again, he followed her instructions to the letter. After a few more chords, the boy was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, I'm doing it!" Ash cried happily, looking over at his teacher as he repeated the simple progression over and over again.

"You're doing great, Ash," Misty chirped, her cheeks heating up when he matched her smile with his own. "You'll be surpassing Gary in no time!"

At that moment, however, an enormous thunderclap blasted out from the sky, rattling the room and causing the lights to flicker. Pikachu and Azurill, who had been sleeping soundly on top of the piano, awoke with a start and immediately tore out of the room in terror. Instinctively, Ash and Misty grabbed each other, wrapping their arms tightly around the other's waist as they trembled with fear and anxiety. Upon realising how close their bodies were, the two teenagers both felt their faces turn red, but neither made a move to pull away, huddling together until the cacophonous sound gradually died away.

Eventually, they slid back to their original positions, saying nothing but occasionally stealing a nervous glance at each other. After a minute of uninterrupted silence, Ash cleared his throat and turned to his friend on the stool beside him.

"Misty?" he said softly.

"Yes, Ash?"

"What was that song you were playing before Gary and Tracey walked in?"

No sooner had Misty's blush begun to fade than his question caused it to return with full force. "Oh, that? It's, erm, just something Daisy used to sing to get me to sleep when I was a baby."

"But I swear I've heard it somewhere before."

"Well, er, I suppose I might have, um, hummed it once or twice at night, you know, when everyone else was asleep."

Though her head hung low, Ash could not help but aim a gentle smile towards his sensitive best friend. "Do you think you could teach me it?"

In a second, her eyes were level with his, and they simply stared at one another for a brief moment before she softly whispered, "…I guess."

They both placed a hand on the smooth keybed, and Misty spoke up again. "Just slowly play the chords you were playing before, and I'll fill in the right hand. One, two, three, and…"

When the music began to fill the room, the two friends were stunned by how natural and fluid their first ever duet seemed to sound. Although the occasional mistimed beat or bum note made its way into the mix, the heart of the piece shone through unmistakeably, and Misty closed her eyes as she allowed herself, for the second time that day, to be taken in by the warmth and nostalgia of her meaningful melody. Ash settled nicely into his steady rhythm, revelling in the enjoyment that this shared moment with his best friend granted him; as he looked across at the girl in question, however, the sight he saw nearly caused his heart to stop. Her long, slender fingers danced along the surface of the keys, the flowing movement almost akin to that of the water pokémon she so adored. Her face was flushed with a pinkish colour that perfectly complemented her pale cheeks and rosy lips, the latter of which were curled into a contented smile. The pokémon trainer's breath caught in his throat as he quickly lost himself in the suddenly fascinating visage of the peaceful gym leader by his side.

Of course, the more time he spent doing this, the less attention he paid to the notes he was pressing. Forgetting the correct hand position in the heat of the moment, he panicked, lurching his arm over to Misty's side of the keyboard and resting his fingers on top of hers. At the same time, his leg shot forward, stamping down on the sustain pedal and stretching out the duration of the resonating notes as a result. Misty gasped in surprise, opening her eyes and whipping her head around to face an equally flustered Ash.

"Er…" he started, trying to think of something to say to diffuse the tension. "What chord is this?"

A hint of confusion weaved through the look of shock plastered on Misty's face, but she answered regardless. "E…m-major…"

The sound from the piano was sweet and delicate, providing a serene backdrop to the intense stare between the two confused teenagers. A million thoughts raced through Ash's mind, but, as he looked deeply into the blue-green eyes of his oldest and closest friend, his instincts took over, and, gradually, he felt his face moving up towards hers. Misty was equally burdened by countless thoughts and emotions, yet was simply unable to tear herself away from this position she had dreamt for so long of finding herself in, and she also began to move in, her eyes fluttering shut. When their lips finally touched, the rest of the world became but a blur around them, and the only thing the pair could focus on through their soft-but-passionate embrace was the beautiful, sustained tranquillity of their precious E major chord.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, and they broke apart gently, sitting up somewhat dizzily to face each other.

"So…E major, huh?" Ash said rather breathlessly.

"Y-Yeah…" Misty replied.

"I…think that might be my favourite chord we've done so far."

"Er, yeah…mine too."

Their hands still intertwined on the keys, Ash scratched his head nervously with his other hand before mumbling, "Do you…maybe wanna, you know, try that again?"

The young girl blushed an even deeper shade of red. "I…er…wh-what about your lesson?"

The pokémon trainer smiled, tucking a loose strand of auburn hair behind his best friend's ear. "I think I've learned everything I need to know today."

As Ash and Misty leant in for another kiss, the smitten young boy came to the conclusion that, suddenly, beating his childhood rival at the piano no longer seemed like a top priority. The harmonious ringing of that final chord, however, was one he would be sure never to forget.


	6. Tiptoe

_Knock, knock, knock_ …

A 43-year-old woman in a beige nightgown walked over to the front door, swinging it open to reveal a tall young man standing limply on the porch. The peak of his red cap obscured most of his face, and his jet black hair was matted from the rain.

"Ash!" squealed the woman, beckoning him into the living room.

"Hi, Mom," he replied rather plainly. As he stepped over the threshold and into the light, Delia Ketchum noticed a tired, unsettled look in her son's half-closed eyes, and a small, pikachu-printed suitcase in his hand. It was a sight she had become regrettably familiar with in recent months, but, as always, she decided to give the boy the benefit of the doubt.

"What a nice surprise! Are you staying for dinner?"

Ash cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with his doting mother. "Erm, actually, I was wondering; is it alright if I stay here for a few days?"

Delia sighed inwardly. The question alone was enough to confirm her suspicions, but the flecks of anger and sadness in his otherwise emotionless voice made her doubly sure this time. She nodded as warmly as she could manage before gesturing for them to sit down on the sofa in the middle of the room.

"Would you like some tea? There's some soup left over from last night too, I think."

"No thanks."

As much as she wanted to help her son in these situations, she knew that there was very little she could do. Past experiences told her that trying to coax details out of him would only result in a screaming match, and leaving him alone to bottle things up was certainly not the right course of action. Nevertheless, his mother she remained, and she would be remiss not to at least try and graze the edges of the boy's distress.

"So, er, where's Pikachu?" she asked. "He must be pretty lonely without you."

"I left him at ho- er, at Misty's house," Ash corrected himself, wringing his hands in embarrassment.

"Oh, I see," Delia murmured as she wracked her brain for something else to say. The question rattling around in her head was one she already knew the answer to, but she felt compelled to ask it anyway, like she did every time.

"Ash…is everything alright?"

And, as usual, his answer remained unchanged. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

He then politely excused himself before making his way hurriedly upstairs to his bedroom, leaving the saddened woman alone in the empty living room. As he disappeared from view, Delia felt a small tear trickle down her cheek. Her son was a man of 25 now, a grown-up with grown-up problems, but that did not stop her from worrying about him as if he were still a reckless ten-year-old. Every since he and Misty Waterflower had moved in together, their constant arguing had led to Ash coming back to his mother's on an almost monthly basis. Anyone else would have assumed that the relationship was beyond repair, but Delia knew that this was just how the two young adults were, and that trying to interfere was likely to only make things worse.

Then again, it was fairly uncharacteristic of Ash to accept defeat like this. Perhaps their most recent fight had been worse than she thought. Wiping the tear from her eye, she walked silently over to the videophone at the end of the room and punched in a well-rehearsed series of buttons. Within seconds, the face of a tanned, spiky-haired 30-year-old man appeared on the screen.

"Hello? Mrs Ketchum?" he inquired.

"Hi there, Brock," she replied. "I'm sorry to bother you at such a late hour."

"It's quite alright, Mrs. K." Brock smiled before adopting a more sombre expression. "But I think I might know why you're calling. It's happened again, hasn't it?"

She nodded sadly. "He's up in his room right now. It seemed worse than usual this time, and you know how he gets when I ask him about it directly; I've had to tiptoe around the subject ever since he got here. Why can't those two ever get along?"

"I know what you mean," he acknowledged. "But don't worry; after the last time, I got most of the gang together and we came up with a plan in case it ever got so bad that they couldn't work it out themselves. I'm going down to the Cerulean gym tomorrow to assess the situation myself, and then, if need be, we can put this plan into action."

Hearing these words instantly brought forth a sigh of relief from Delia's lips. "Oh thank you, Brock! You don't know how reassuring that is to me. And good luck with Misty tomorrow!"

"No problem, it's the least I'd do for my best friends," he stated cheerily. "And thanks, although…" he paused, stroking his chin worriedly, "in these sorts of situations, I've always found Ash to be the more reasonable of the two…"

* * *

_The next morning…_

A green-haired man strolled leisurely up the path to the Cerulean City gym, whistling as he flicked through a book of his latest sketches. Before he could make it to the entrance, however, a terrified-looking child burst out of the doors in front of him, almost knocking him over in the process. By the time he looked up, the young trainer had already vanished, so, shrugging, he made his way through the glass doors only to be suddenly engulfed in a huge hug.

"Tracey! Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Daisy Waterflower cried as she held onto her startled boyfriend, burying her head into his bright green shirt.

Tracey pulled back slightly, but kept his hands on the frantic woman's shoulders. "What do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"Like, didn't I tell you? It's Misty. Her and Ash, well…"

"Oh no, not again." He sighed, freeing one of his hands to massage his temples. "What happened this time?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Violet as she and Lily made their way over to the couple. "We're all, like, too scared to ask."

At that moment, the arena doors opened, and an irate redhead stomped into the foyer, her head down as she muttered grumpily to herself about "stupid goddamn rookies" or the like.

"Er…hi, Misty," Tracey waved uneasily. He hoped the simple act of saying 'hello' was not enough to set her off, as he knew better than to properly engage his old friend during one of her rages.

She looked up, drying the back of her shoulder-length hair with the towel around her neck. "Hey," she replied with little to no emotion in her voice.

"Are you, er…I mean, is everything, er…h-how's everything going?"

"Fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

Before the increasingly fearful pokémon watcher could answer, Misty turned to the 'audience' of their conversation, shooting each of them a look of sarcastic incredulity. "Can I help you?"

The venom in her words was unmistakeable, and her three sisters laughed nervously, inching backwards with their hands raised in defence.

"Oh n-no, hehe, we don't need, er, anything, thank you! We were just, like, p-passing through, right, girls?"

As they each nodded innocently, wide and insincere smiles on their faces, Misty just rolled her eyes, turning on her heel towards the door to the living quarters. Tracey and Daisy could not help but notice the sadness in the girl's eyes and the deep colour of frustration in her cheeks; it was obvious she was hurting immensely, but the barrier she put up at times like these made it almost impossible to even get near her, much less try and console her.

"Hey, Misty?" Daisy called after her. Misty stopped in place, turning her head around just enough to be able to see her oldest sister, but said nothing.

"We were all, like, heading out for some lunch now; wanna join us?"

A solemn utterance of, "Can't. Got some stuff to do", was all the younger Waterflower could manage before she promptly trudged up to the stairs to her bedroom – _no doubt to cry or throw things around for the rest of the day,_ Daisy thought with a frown.

Once they were sure she was out of hearing range, the nervous group turned to each other with looks of both concern and exasperation.

"Like, what are we going to do with her?" Lily exclaimed. "She's going to, like, scare all our fans away if she keeps acting like this!"

"I'll admit, it does seem a little worse this time," Tracey pondered.

"Well, Lily's right about one thing; this can't keep going on, for Misty's sake as much as ours," Daisy concluded, walking over to the front desk and knocking on the top of the counter. "You can, like, come out now, Brock."

Tracey watched in surprise as the pokémon doctor unfolded himself from underneath the desk, stretching out his back dramatically before standing up straight.

"What on earth were you doing under there?" asked Tracey.

"I came early this morning to check on Misty," he began to explain, "but as soon as I stepped through the doors, I heard all sorts of crashing and shouting coming from the pool, and then Daisy came out and hid me under the desk. I think she figured that Misty would know why I was here if she saw me, and that would only have made her worse.

"Not that I can imagine how she could get much worse than this morning…" he finished with a traumatised shiver.

"Have you spoken to Ash?"

"No, but Delia called me last night, and apparently he's pretty much the same."

"This is ridiculous!" Daisy cried, slamming her fists down on the desk. "I'm sick of, like, treading on eggshells with those two! How are we supposed to get through to them if we can't even, like, talk to them?!"

"Guys, guys," Brock reassured the group. "We don't have to talk to them. Not directly, anyway. Remember the plan we made last time?"

Daisy and Tracey almost immediately broke out into a knowing chord of, "Ohhhhh", while Violet and Lily simply shrugged blankly. As their older sister leant over to whisper in their ears, however, the duo gasped, giggling and clapping their hands enthusiastically.

"Have you got everything you need?" asked Brock.

"Oh yes, we've got, like, more than enough!" Daisy beamed, while Tracey nodded in agreement.

"Great! Guess I'll, er, rally the troops, then." He laughed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his pokégear and quickly sent a short but unambiguous message to half of his contacts list:

_They've broken up again. You know what to do._

* * *

The following evening, a tired and disgruntled Ash Ketchum sat alone in a dimly lit café on the outskirts of Pewter City. From his corner booth, he could see almost everyone else in the place, from the young children happily skipping about the floor to the couples gazing lovingly into each other's eyes – everyone, inevitably, except the person he was expecting to meet there.

"Come on, Brock," he growled through clenched teeth, drumming his fingers on the table. "What's taking you so long?"

It was unlike his old friend to be late for anything, let alone something that he himself had organised, but it was now 6:34pm, and the agreement was to meet up just before 6. Scratching the skin underneath his watch, Ash began to contemplate getting up and leaving, an idea that was swiftly halted by the sudden appearance of one that caused his heart to ricochet around his ribcage.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ash and Misty both groaned simultaneously, the latter stopping dead in her tracks a few feet away from the former. The staryu-shaped clasp of Misty's handbag reflected light straight into the man's eyes as it slipped off her shoulder to the floor.

"I knew I smelled a rattata when Daisy told me she wanted to meet in Pewter City of all places," she grumbled. "As if she'd be caught dead here!"

Though the two had gone to great lengths thus far to avoid eye contact, the young woman promptly shot her ex-boyfriend an inquisitive look as if to say, "Who?", to which he glumly mouthed, "Brock."

The subsequent roll of her eyes ushered in a painfully awkward silence, yet neither of them seemed to be in much of a hurry to break it. Finally, after a few seconds, Ash sighed and said, "So, are you going to sit down?"

Misty felt briefly angered by the slightly indignant tone in his voice, but soon threw her hands up in defeat. "Ugh. Fine, let's get this over with! People have been tiptoeing around me like I'm made of glass for the last two days, so maybe I could use a good, honest conversation after all."

Ash watched as she slid her lithe figure along the seat across from him. Her legs brushed against his under the table, causing him to blush slightly, but he did everything in his power to fight it back so as not to negate his stoic expression.

"Well?" Misty asked, her voice layered with her trademark flirtatious sarcasm. "Aren't you going to apologise?"

He scratched his head vacantly. "For what?"

Balling her hands into fists, the frustrated gym leader let out a subdued growl. "You see?! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about the other night!"

"Wait a minute…oh my god, is this all because I left the toilet seat up that one time?"

"Of course it's not just that! And it was _way_ more than just one time, by the way."

"Well, what about you and the damn ketchup? Ketchup goes in the fridge, _not_ the cupboard. You know we have to keep it in there so Pikachu can't get it, but lo and behold, guess where it is every time I go looking for it!"

Misty huffed. "At least I don't leave my clothes all over the place like some disgusting slob!"

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe I wouldn't if you didn't wake me up every morning with your stupid yoga tapes!"

"You sing in your sleep!"

"You use my toothbrush!"

"You leave all the lights on when you come to bed!"

"You hardly ever want to make love anymore!"

"You-" Before Misty could offload more of her well-prepared ammunition on her opponent, she stopped herself, sighing as her voice lowered slightly. "See what I mean? We can't agree on anything. It's been like this ever since we moved in together, and I…I just don't see how it's going to work."

Ash, however, was not quite ready to calm down. "Well if that's what you want, then fine, maybe I should just go!"

And with that, the argument recommenced. "Well maybe you should!"

"Fine by me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Excuse me, but are you-"

"WHAT?!"

Their simultaneous cry caused the slender waiter before them to recoil slightly, but he managed to maintain his poise as he readdressed the bickering couple.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but are you, by any chance, Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower?"

The pair nodded, too embarrassed to speak after their outburst.

"This was left at the bar for you this afternoon," he explained, producing a wooden box the size of a shoebox and placing it in front of them on the table. Ash and Misty alternated between glancing at each other and the mystery box, but before they could say a word, the aloof waiter muttered a quick "good day" and shuffled back over to his position behind the bar.

"Alright, what's this about?" Misty scoffed at the confused boy across from her, pointing accusatively towards the centre of the table.

"It's not me." He shrugged. "Shall we…take a look?"

As he tentatively gestured for her to come around to his side of the table, she hesitated at the idea of being so close to him after they had just been tearing into each other, but reluctantly obliged when curiosity got the better of her. Once they were side-by-side in the booth, Ash carefully lifted off the ebony lid, bracing himself for whatever lay inside their mysterious gift.

What he saw caused him to both sigh with relief and roll his eyes in disgust. The box was piled high with stacks of paper featuring scanned, printed-out photographs and short passages of writing, along with a few loose trinkets rattling around at the bottom. At the top of the pile, however, was a short note written in fancy cursive writing, one that instantly clued the groaning couple in on the objective of this elaborate set-up:

_When words fail, memories speak_

_From Brock and the gang_

"It's not going to work," Misty stated flatly, snatching the note from Ash's hand and folding it up into a tiny square. "I hope they know they've wasted their time."

Despite his ex-girlfriend's pessimism, Ash could not resist digging straight into the box, pulling out the first handful of photos he laid eyes on. They were all from the beginning of his pokémon journey, not long after he and Misty had first met. The two did not like each other very much at that point, and this animosity undeniably shone through in many of the pictures. Looking through certainly made for a nostalgic experience, Ash thought, but otherwise, the images seemed largely inconsequential.

"I think you may be right." He turned to Misty with a small chuckle. "I don't see where Brock's going with this."

Yet, as if by magic, the next picture he came across all but stopped his heart.

"Ash, this is…the Maiden Festival," Misty whispered in shock, leaning in to examine the two dancing figures in the photograph. Their smiles were bright and innocent as they twirled together in their decorative kimonos.

"Yeah…" he responded absentmindedly, but in reality, the memories exuded by this one sheet of paper had him completely mesmerised. That unforgettable night at Maiden's Peak was the first time he had noticed how pretty Misty was, and he had only been noticing it more and more ever since.

The next few images dredged up similar emotions, something that was exacerbated by the emergence of handwritten comments in the borders of the photos. One captured Ash frowning at Misty next to the flamboyant Fiorello Cappuccino, with a caption by Brock that read, _Look at his little jealous face!_ , while another showcased the two caught squirming embarrassedly under the mistletoe at Professor Oak's Christmas Party with the words, _Ah, young love_ , scrawled in presumably by the Professor himself. As they ventured deeper and deeper into the box, Ash and Misty tried their best to keep their expressions neutral, but with each new memory they uncovered, the smiles they were holding back threatened to surface that much more.

"This is…t-totally ridiculous," Misty spoke, her voice faltering slightly.

"Y-Yeah," Ash replied. "Don't know what they were th-thinking…"

Despite their mutual scepticism, they both continued rooting eagerly through the wooden box. A beautiful drawing by Tracey Sketchit of the two sitting by the sea captivated them for quite some time, and a pawprint collage made by most of Ash and Misty's pokémon became almost like a game as they took it in turns to guess which prints belonged to which pokémon. From that point on, the majority of the photos were from the pair's interregional friends, presented in an email format as if Brock had simply printed them from his pokégear.

 _You should have seen him when I asked to borrow it!_ read Dawn's round handwriting underneath the latest photograph, which depicted Ash sitting cross-legged on the grass, lovingly polishing his Mini-Misty fishing lure with a goofy smile on his face.

"What does she mean by that?" Misty asked.

Ash blushed, laughing nervously. "Oh, er, well, I kinda didn't want to let it out of my sight…you know? 'Cause it reminded me of you and everything, hehe."

To his surprise, the formerly stone-faced gym leader to his left let out a small giggle. "Well, I guess that is kind of sweet."

Another photo showed Ash arguing with Iris in the heart of the Unova region, bordered with another caption that made Misty raise her eyebrow in curiosity. In luscious, flowery handwriting that could only have belonged to Ash's friend, Cilan, were the words, _It's incredible how often he accidently called her Misty_.

With every shred of paper they removed, the loose objects at the bottom of the box became more and more visible. Ash's heart leapt when he noticed the lure in question, stroking it absentmindedly and quickly putting it back once he realised what he was doing. Also amongst the clutter was the Spike Shell Badge he had won during his time on Trovita Island, an experience that had brought the two closer together in more ways than they knew. At some point during this stage of the 'exploration', Misty had allowed her head to slip down onto Ash's shoulder, something that the boy did not shy away from, and their hands slowly intertwined under the table. Whether a conscious decision or plain, simple instinct, the former couple remained perfectly content with their newfound closeness.

They finally approached the end of the pile, with only two items left unchecked. Assuming that the gang had saved the pièce de résistance until last, Misty slowly turned the penultimate sheet of paper over, gasping at the sight that lay before her. The item was not a photo, but, in fact, a scan of an entry from a diary. _Her_ diary.

"I knew those harlots were reading my diary this whole time!" she cried, causing Ash to jump. As her eyes skimmed over the contents, however, she realised that the particular entry they chose was one so powerful, so vivid in her memory that she found she could not bear to deprive the boy of the chance to see it. Her head moved up on his shoulder as he took in a deep breath and began to read.

" _Dear Diary,_

 _Today was one of the hardest days of my life. Ever since we got to Shamouti Island, weird things have been going on. Some collector guy whose name we never found out tried to capture the legendary birds to call out Lugia, the beast of the sea. We eventually stopped him, but Ash almost died doing so, and I…I don't know what I would do without him._ "

Ash briefly looked down inquisitively at the girl nestled on his shoulder before clearing his throat and continuing.

" _He got himself tangled up in this prophecy of some sort, and Lugia let him ride on his back, but when they both fell in the water, I thought that was it. I thought I'd lost him. But just before I swam out to rescue him, Melody made me realise something, something I was only guessing at before we got here. I love him._

"You saved me?" Ash broke off suddenly, his eyes wide.

"Of course I did, you idiot," she replied softly. "I couldn't let you die out there, could I?"

"But you've never told me that before…"

"I guess it never seemed important. You're alive, and that's all that matters."

A warm feeling danced around in Ash's chest as he turned around to look his oldest friend in the eye. Neither said anything, but the look in his eyes conveyed all of the gratitude he had never been able to say, and she returned that look with one of pure appreciation. After a short while, she finally spoke up, her voice just above a whisper.

"Ash…there's still one left."

She reached into the box and fumbled for the final piece of paper, holding it out in front of them. Instinctively, Ash's hand stretched forward to hold onto the opposite corner.

"On three?" she asked.

After a quick nod from the pokémon trainer, they counted down under their breaths before flipping over the paper and revealing the small, postcard-sized photograph in their hands.

Ash and Misty were instantly rendered speechless. The image was so small, yet held so much meaning for the young couple. Each blurry pixel took them right back to the moment as if it were happening right there and then, and, as they sat hand-in-hand in the corner booth of the quiet Pewter City café, they could not help but lose themselves in the warmth of their most treasured memory.

The stadium shook with torrents of earth-shattering applause as the Indigo League's newest champion stepped into the middle of the arena. After thirteen years of chasing his dream, the sound was more beautiful than he ever could have imagined. Almost immediately, he was smothered by the two most important women in his life, tears streaming down their faces as they held tightly onto the newly christened pokémon master. While Delia was understandably beside herself with joy, no-one could have been happier than Misty Waterflower. She had been with him since day one of his journey, pushing him the whole time to be the best that he could be, and now that he was just that, there were no words to describe how proud she was of her best friend in the world.

The photograph captured the moment just after this, the precise second that elevated the already perfect day to the happiest of their lives. Ash scooped Misty up in a tight hug, spinning her round and round to another wave of cheers from the audience. Then, without thinking, he leaned in, cupping her face with his hands, and kissed her with all the longing and passion he had built up over his years of traveling. Naturally, Misty responded just as fervently, wrapping her arms around his neck as joyful tears continued to pour down her cheeks. Much like the moment in question, the two were unable to put their feelings into words upon staring at the precious photo, instead opting for the simple but impeccable explanation that his good friend May had etched into the margin:

_This. This right here._

A light sniffling sound brought Ash suddenly back down to earth, and, looking over to his left, he noticed the girl he loved crying softly into his shoulder. Without hesitating, he put his arm around her and held her close.

"Who'd have thought our relationship meant so much to our friends, huh, Mist?" he said through a gentle smile.

Misty blushed at the mention of her nickname, drying the last of her tears before replying, "Y-Yeah…"

"Guess they were all too afraid to talk to us in person."

She laughed warmly. "I know. We're so lucky to have them."

As they gathered all of the items back into the box, a short silence washed over the duo, though not an uncomfortable one. Loathe as they were to admit it, Brock's little box of tricks had absolutely made them think more clearly about what was really important to them.

"So, er…" Ash began, unsure of how to proceed after their fleeting moment of intimacy, "you wanna go get some ice cream?"

Misty smiled, a hint of red appearing across her nose. "Yeah. I'd like that."

With that, the pair made their way out of the booth and over to the exit, their arms loosely around each other's waists. Ash picked up the box and tucked it under his free arm, humming to himself blissfully.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked innocently.

"Oh yeah," she answered nonchalantly. "But don't worry; a couple of months on the sofa ought to sort you right out."

He laughed, squeezing her gently before the meaning of her words actually began to sink in. "Wait, what?"

* * *

In the opposite corner of the café, a man dressed in a long coat and hat eyed the two young adults as they exited quietly and disappeared down the street. With a quick cry of "Yes!" under his breath, he reached for his blue pokégear, highlighting a sizable portion of his contacts list and composing a short, straightforward message, the second in as many days:

_Mission accomplished._


	7. Night

Ten-year-old Misty Waterflower awoke with a start, a cold sweat coating every inch of her lean body. Save for her heavy breathing, a haunting, deathly silence hung over the small clearing in the heart of Viridian Forest, and the last remaining embers of the once roaring campfire were her only source of light. She sat up in her sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head from side to side in an attempt to dispel the images that had festered in her mind for the majority of the night.

The young girl was not normally given to restless sleeping. After a full day of being treated like a slave by her selfish older sisters, forced to perform the most menial of chores around the gym, Misty was often desperate to sink into her bed when nighttime finally rolled around, and did not so much as stir until the pattern repeated itself the next morning. But this was not the gym, and she was not in her bed. Though she could not possibly have stayed in that prison any longer, the consequences of sleeping rough were not something she had fully factored into her decision to leave.

Despite this, having a full-blown nightmare was all but unheard of for the younger Waterflower, and had left her uncharacteristically shaken as a result. Tentatively, she rose to her feet, still shivering slightly from the shock, and looked across the fire to the black-haired boy lying on the other side.

"A-Ash?" she whispered, shyly twisting the strap of her red suspenders around with her finger and thumb. When she received no answer, Misty stepped carefully over the smouldering fire and knelt down beside the rustling sleeve of blue fabric.

"Ash…are you awake?" She tried again, gently prodding the middle of the sleeping bag. After a few seconds, a light groaning sound erupted from underneath the cover, and the drowsy face of Misty's newest travelling companion slowly turned around to meet hers.

"H-Huh…?" Ash Ketchum gurgled dumbly, clearly not yet fully awake. Through half-closed eyes, the newly christened pokémon trainer could vaguely make out a head of short orange hair in front of him, illuminated vibrantly by the firelight.

Misty supressed an awkward blush as she realised what she was about to say. "I…I had a nightmare."

In his semi-conscious state, Ash was puzzled as to what he was expected to do with such information. "And…?" he murmured.

"And I was, er, just wondering…" she began, her hands behind her back and her eyes looking off to the side. "Could I sleep with you tonight? Er, I mean, um, n-next to you, that is."

Misty forced herself to look her addressee in the eye, silently trying to power through her extreme embarrassment. Ash, on the other hand, appeared no more enlightened on the nature of her request.

"Why?"

A small grain of annoyance materialised within the vulnerable girl's chest, but she managed to push it back down before it could surface. "It would just, er, make me feel better, I guess," she squeaked coyly.

Ash yawned in an overly dramatic fashion. "Misty, I'm too tired for your riddles. Go back to sleep."

"Please?" she asked softly.

Yet, the annoyed grunt she received in response was all she needed to work out his answer. Growling angrily, she trudged back over to her sleeping bag, stomping her feet exaggeratedly with every step she took.

"I hate you!" she shouted over to the startled boy. "As soon as you pay me back for my bike, I'm out of here!"

Ash sat up to glare at the bellowing redhead. "Oh, will you just shut up about that bike already? It wasn't even me that fried it, but I don't see you taking it out on Pikachu, huh, Misty?"

Misty glanced down at the boy's side, where his loyal electric mouse pokémon was curled in a ball on the grass, purring peacefully. Although Ash's remark was technically true, she was not about to give him the satisfaction of hearing her admit that.

"Whatever," she snarled, lying back down and zipping herself into the red, bubble-printed fabric. She closed her eyes, praying that her next bout of rest would be less turbulent than the last, and although she was almost certain that her companion had already gone back to sleep, she made sure to shoot over one last little jab for good measure.

"Jerk."

* * *

As expected, the following day passed without so much as a passing mention of the previous night's dilemma. Misty highly doubted that Ash even remembered, and so decided not to risk starting up an argument about it, regardless of just how tempted she was to do so. Hours of walking, bickering and silent reflection were broken up only by the occasional pokémon battle or wild pokémon encounter (neither of which her rather inexperienced companion faired too well in), making for a harmless but completely inconsequential day overall.

Yet, as if some unseen tormentor were following her through the forest, the young girl was jolted awake for the second night in a row by another horrifying nightmare. She had no idea of the cause, or even of what they were about, as the sudden reintroduction to reality virtually erased the images from her mind, but the one thing she was sure of was how frightened this was all making her feel.

Though it went against her better judgement, Misty could not help but crawl over to Ash and try, once again, to see if he would allow her to sleep beside him. However, the only response she got from the groggy pokémon trainer was:

"There's a weedle on your back…"

The piercing scream that burst out from the terrified redhead was enough to wake up the entire Kanto region.

Unsurprisingly, the third night ended up being much of the same, though Misty was wiser this time than to presume to ask her one-track-minded associate for help. Instead, she simply lay on her side, whimpering out of fear and clutching her covers tightly. Why this was all happening was a mystery to her, but the young girl could not shake the feeling that she would feel so much calmer if only there were someone close by to guide her through this.

As useless as her sisters were in almost every other walk of life, Misty thought, they were, at least, mildly sympathetic when she had had bad dreams in her early childhood, and would occasionally let her sleep in their beds with them. But she had known them her whole life; to ask something so intimate of someone she had known for less than two weeks probably seemed crazy by comparison, and she definitely did not want to give the boy the impression that she was some kind of pushover that needed protecting all the time.

Yet, at the same time, there was something immensely comforting about Ash Ketchum that she could not quite put her finger on. She certainly could not call him a friend at this point in time, and was hesitant to say that she even liked him very much, but still, a perplexing element of intrigue lingered around that dense, overconfident hothead, and as little as it seemed to make sense, his presence had a perpetually soothing effect on her somehow.

At the very least, her thoughts of Ash had managed to distract her from her nightmare, and before long, the confused girl had drifted off into a relatively tranquil slumber.

* * *

When the sleeping bags came out again the next night, Misty was fully expecting to wake up, as she had done every night that week, at some ungodly hour in the middle of a pitch-black forest clearing after having had the fright of her life. As it turned out, though, worrying over a restless sleep was wholly unnecessary, for tonight proved too humid and airless to grant her any sleep at all.

"Uh…ugh…grr…urghm…!" the frustrated girl moaned irritably, writhing around in her sleeping bag in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position to lie down in. Judging by the vast blanket of stars above her, Misty guessed that it had to be well after midnight, and were the place not infested with bug pokémon, as Ash had not-so-tactfully reminded her the other day, she might have considered getting up, resigning herself to the fact that sleep was not likely to come anytime soon.

Just then, a peculiar sound from across the campsite distracted her from her indecision.

"N-No…uhh…g-get away…g-get…yurghhh…"

It was definitely Ash – Misty could pick out those youthful tones a mile away – but there was something different about the way he delivered his nonsensical utterings. His voice was laced with a kind of fragility, a flavour of stress and insecurity that the girl had never before heard from the usually chipper and headstrong pokémon trainer. Partly curious and partly concerned, she slid quietly out of her sleeping bag and tiptoed over to her companion's squirming form.

One step…

Two steps…

Three steps…

"AAAARGHH!"

Misty fell backwards in shock as the boy shot bolt upright in his sleeping bag, a terrified scream escaping his quivering chest. Beads of sweat clung to his clammy forehead, and his eyes were wide and bloodshot.

"Wh-Where am I?" he panted, looking around frantically. "Misty? Are they gone? Did you chase them off?"

"What are you talking about?" inquired the startled girl once she picked herself up from the ground. "Who?"

"The spearow! I was running, and they were chasing me, and-"

As soon as the situation became clear to Misty, a small giggle made its way up her throat and out of her mouth. _Oh, the irony_.

"Ash," she began in a soft but stern tone, "I think you were having a nightmare."

Misty's hypothesis did little to calm the poor boy down. "A n-nightmare? Th-That's impossible! They were right there! Didn't you see them?"

Though Ash was clearly disorientated and in need of reassurance, the redhead could not ignore the small feeling of annoyance she maintained over being denied such treatment when she had been in his position earlier that week. With a disgruntled sigh, she turned on her heel and began to walk back to her sleeping bag. "You'll be fine," she muttered flatly over her shoulder.

"Wait!" he cried just as Misty lay back down atop her bedding. "Where are you going? Can't you, er, s-stay with me for a while?"

And just like that, the wall holding in the young girl's pent-up anger came crashing down to the ground.

"I can't believe the nerve of you, Ketchum!" she boomed, lowering her voice slightly when she noticed Pikachu beginning to stir. "You must be crazy if you think I'm going to do anything like that for you after how you shunned me a couple of days ago!"

The still-dazed Ash appeared not to know of what his companion was referring to. "Wh-What? What do you…er, I don't…"

"Save it. I'm going to bed."

Without another word, Misty turned on her side and wrapped herself up tightly, breathing deeply in an attempt to diffuse her residual irritation. In uncharacteristic fashion, Ash had neither the words nor the energy to retaliate, and simply allowed his head to sink back down to the ground in defeat.

 _Who does he think he is?_ Misty pondered incredulously. The volatile young girl was no stranger to losing her temper with people, but her new companion seemed to know how to test her patience on another level entirely. That being said, something about the sorry state she had just witnessed him in stayed with her, lingering in her mind long after it had left her eyes, and as much as the thought repulsed her, she could not help but think of the pathetic image as somewhat…endearing.

If she were in any doubt about that, even for a second, then the sudden whimpering she heard coming from across the clearing instantly rendered her decided. Rolling her eyes, Misty wriggled out of her sleeping bag for the second time in as many minutes and perched herself on the end of a sturdy log near the campfire.

"You know," she began gently, her voice gradually shedding its undertone of impatience, "I've had some bad dreams myself this week."

A few seconds later, Ash's whimpering died down. "Y-You have?" he mumbled as he turned to face her.

Another eye roll befell the redhead upon realising that the boy had just inadvertently admitted to forgetting everything that had happened over the past three nights. Peculiarly, she found herself surprised by just how unsurprised this made her feel.

"Yep," she answered, patting the spot next to her on the log. "And you told me to go back to sleep."

Ash's face drooped moments after he sat down beside the young girl. "Oh," he mumbled in embarrassment. "Er, sorry. When people wake me up in the middle of the night, I nearly always forget what happened by the morning. I'll probably even forget this…hehe…"

"Figures," she muttered, but continued before Ash could get a word in. "I guess sleeping away from home isn't as easy as we thought, huh?"

He nodded, scratching the back of his hatless head. "My mom used to let me sleep in her bed when I had nightmares back in Pallet Town. I guess that probably sounds stupid now…"

"It's not stupid," Misty smiled, causing the boy's brow to unfurrow slightly. "I used to do the same with my sisters. Of course, I had to practically beg them outside their doors, and it usually took them about an hour before they gave in, but still."

Ash chuckled at her energetic tone, but then paused as he considered what she had said. "I've never heard you talk about your family before, Misty. Do you guys, er, you know, get along?"

"Eh, it's complicated." She shrugged. "When you meet them, you'll understand."

"Huh? What do you mean 'when I meet them'?"

The redhead mentally smacked herself for her stupidity. She did not feel quite ready to reveal her family's…occupation…to her companion just yet. "Never mind."

Little by little, the pair's midnight conversation succeeded in comforting the shaken Ash, and before long, the young boy was back to his old optimistic, albeit exhausted, self. As he demonstrated the latter point with a series of increasingly intense yawns, Misty sprung to her feet and stepped lightly over to her side of the camp.

"Sounds like you could use some sleep, Mr. Pokémon Master."

Before Ash could agree or disagree, he was suddenly met with the sight of Misty bundling up her sleeping bag and plopping it back down to the right of the fire – right next to his.

"What are you doing?" he asked innocently.

"You'd better not get used to this, Ash Ketchum!" she snapped in a half-joking, half-serious manner. "This is only for tonight, you hear me?"

It took a short while for the tired pokémon trainer to put two and two together, but as soon as he did, his puzzled expression was swiftly replaced by a lopsided grin. "Thanks, Mist!" he exclaimed happily.

As they both crawled into their individual sleeping bags, a small hint of red appeared across Misty's cheeks. Since when had he called her Mist? The way he said it sounded almost musical in its delivery – soft, yet strangely melodic – and the sudden feeling of butterfree in her stomach pleased the flustered young girl in ways she did not fully understand.

"And if you even think about saying I've got cooties…" she huffed, trying to reclaim some self-control.

Thankfully, though, it did not seem like Ash had heard her. Sighing through a small smile, the redhead shifted onto her back and buried her head in the soft inside of the bag. "Goodnight, Ash," she whispered quietly as her eyes gently closed.

"G'night…Misty," his sleepy voice replied.

A few minutes of silence passed before Misty heard the same voice speak up again. "Misty?"

The sound was almost inaudible, and the young girl wondered whether or not Ash was simply talking in his sleep. Nevertheless, his soft murmuring started up again soon after.

"You know…when you first started travelling with me…I wasn't sure if…I wanted you here…but now…"

When his latest phrase was followed by a longer pause than the rest, Misty raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But now…?" she prompted curiously. Yet, his silence thereafter led her to believe that the boy was finally fast asleep.

Though he had not finished his sentence, something about Ash's unconscious drivelling made Misty feel inexplicably warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe they were close to considering each other friends after all. Before she could entertain the notion further, however, the sudden contact of something touching her arm caused her to gasp in surprise.

Her eyes shot open, and her shoulders tensed up from the shock. Ash was suddenly much closer to her, his upper torso having slipped diagonally out of his sleeping bag. His left arm was coiled around hers, and his cheek was resting clumsily against her bare shoulder. Misty was stunned, unsure of what to think of the boy's actions, and her face instantly became as hot as a charmander's tail, but as she gradually began to take in the warmth of his soft, tanned skin, the blushing redhead realised that, contrary to her initial thought of malleting him to within an inch of his life, their unexpected closeness felt rather, dare she say it, nice.

"Idiot," she whispered through an airy giggle. Instinctively, she allowed her free arm to reach across to his upper back, while her head slowly moved downwards, stopping when her cheek made contact with the top of his messy, black hair. What possessed her to adopt such a position was a mystery to the nervous young girl, but as she lay there, cradling in her arms a dense, stubborn little boy that she had only just met, Misty felt more peaceful and relaxed than she had done all week. How could having a nightmare be solved by a situation that, before she met Ash, she would have considered a nightmare in and of itself?

Then again, she thought as she let out a powerful yawn, this could just be the tiredness talking. Perhaps, like her new friend, she would even forget all about this the next morning.

Sure enough, at the first light of dawn…

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"


	8. Attic

It was an evening like any other in midsummer Pallet Town. The pidgey were singing, the sky was a beautiful reddish orange, and the wind whistled gently through the trees, allowing peaceful, delicate chords of nature to sail through the air. This idyllic stillness extended to the lower floors of the quaint Ketchum household, where one could practically hear a pin drop; the attic room, however, was rife with activity.

"Try it a little more to the left," Brock suggested, stroking his chin.

"Okay…here?" Delia Ketchum complied as she moved the red rose between her finger and thumb along by about an inch.

"Hmm…I'm still not sure," he answered with a frown.

"Well, I think you already look too adorable for words, Ashy!" the energetic woman gushed, pinching the cheek of her 16-year-old son as if he were still a young child.

Needless to say, Ash did not share his mother's enthusiasm. "Mom!" he whined embarrassedly as his older friend began sniggering.

Delia pinned the rose onto the squirming boy's grey suit jacket and stood behind him to observe his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror. "There. That looks lovely, doesn't it?"

Ash shuffled awkwardly in place, wincing every time the floorboards creaked underneath him. "Are you sure all of this is really necessary?" He gestured towards his uncharacteristically formal clothing. "It's just Misty."

Brock jumped slightly at the gasping noise Delia made. "That's a horrible thing to say about your best friend!" she scolded him. "Imagine if she heard you say that!"

But Ash did not have to imagine. He had been on the receiving end of his short-tempered friend's legendary ire more times than he could count.

"Oh, but isn't this romantic?" Delia continued, turning daintily on her heel to stare out of the triangular window with a blissful smile on her face. "I was about your age when your father and I went on our first date. I can still see him as clearly as if it were yesterday; he was so handso-"

"It's not a date!" Ash bellowed, his face red and his eyes fixed on the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"Oh, of course, honey. My mistake." She giggled, and for a brief moment, Ash thought the topic had been successfully dropped, until…

"Well, look at you!" came a distinctly high-pitched voice from the trapdoor behind him.

"Hey, Tracey," he waved solemnly at the mirror as the green-haired man made his way up the ladder and into his view.

"By the looks of that getup, you'd think you and Misty were getting married or something!" he exclaimed jestingly.

Unsurprisingly, Ash did not seem to see the funny side of his friend's comment. "M-M-Married?" The mortified boy gulped. "W-Who said anything about getting…"

"Now, now, Tracey, one thing at a time." Delia waggled her finger playfully at the pokémon watcher.

"Yeah," Brock agreed, leaning against the mirror with his arms folded. "I mean, the guy's only just getting used to the dating game!"

Ash broke out into another furious blush. "IT'S NOT A DATE!" he shrieked frantically. "Misty and I are just going out for a meal before I head out to the Battle Frontier again! That's all it is! Just a friendly meal!"

"Oh, really?" Brock countered, a sly smirk gracing his features. "Then why wasn't I invited? Or Tracey? Or May and Max, for that matter?"

The flushed boy turned his attention to the window. "Well…I…"

"And how come you were so jittery and nervous when you asked her the other night?" pondered the pokémon breeder, earning him a confused glare that led him to guiltily add, "Um…I may have been watching from the top of the stairs…"

"And…" Tracey began in a tone similar to Brock's, "Misty sure seems to think it's a date. I just came from the lab; she's been running about like a headless torchic for the past hour trying to get ready! Do you really want to be the one to tell her she's got the wrong idea?"

In that moment, Ash's hot flush instantly turned cold. As reassuring as his constant denial had been to him up until that point, he now realised that all he had managed to do with such a strategy was back himself into a corner. He neither wanted nor had the courage to tell Misty the night was off – especially after nearly a whole week of trying to impress her – but that meant indirectly admitting to the whole room that tonight was, in fact, exactly what they had speculated that it was.

Sighing in defeat, Ash shifted back in front of the mirror to re-evaluate his most current predicament. "This is stupid," he grumbled, tugging at the tight knot of his royal blue tie. "I look like a waiter at a comedy club."

Brock chuckled before stroking his chin again. "Now that you mention it, I think that rose might be a bit much. If we only had something to…" He creaked his way around the room, dodging through piles of boxes and coughing intermittently from the dust his movement kicked up. After a few moments of searching, an idea – along with the low ceiling beam he was standing under – struck him square in the head.

"Ooh!" he cried in both triumph and pain. "I've got it! Back in a sec!"

True to his word, no sooner had the pokémon breeder slid down the ladder and raced across the hall than he returned only seconds later, barely giving anyone the chance to register that he had even gone.

"Here we go." Brock nodded to himself as he made his way over to the curious Ash. With one hand, he swiftly plucked the rose from the boy's lapel, and with the other, gently tucked an ornately folded piece of cloth into his breast pocket. Ash looked down at his friend's handiwork, his heart leaping when his eyes focused upon the object in question. He would recognise that uniquely pink fabric anywhere: his prized handkerchief from Misty on the day she left.

"That ought to get her attention, eh?" Brock grinned up at the blushing pokémon trainer.

Ash, unable to find any words to fire back at his narrow-eyed friend, simply mumbled out a faint, "Th-Thanks."

"Hey, that looks much better!" Tracey observed from his new position to the left of the mirror. "I've got to get a sketch of this."

While the excitable man proceeded to sit cross-legged on the floor and scribble away at one of his many sketchpads, Ash absentmindedly allowed his eyes to wander from corner to corner around his mother's makeshift haven in the house he grew up in. As a child, he was rarely allowed in the attic for fear that he would break something or hurt himself in some way; as a result, the boy's surroundings were still somewhat unfamiliar to him, even after all these years. Cardboard boxes and filing cabinets covered almost every inch of floor in the room, with only the thinnest of walkways between them leading into the main patch of space in the centre where they were all gathered. A triangle of light blazed through from the window to his left, bathing the room in beams of rustic amber hues, and as the latest burst of sunlight illuminated the small desk below the window, Ash's eyes landed on a distinctive red, white and green item that caused his mouth to curl into a boyish smile.

"Can't I at least wear my old hat?" he pleaded, gesturing over to the tattered yet beloved headwear from his youth.

"Oh, honestly, Ash!" Delia huffed in disbelief. "No son of mine is going to eat at a nice place like _La Dragonnaire_ wearing that filthy old thing!"

Before the glowering boy could commence his obligatory whinging spree, he was silenced by a pair of simultaneous gasping sounds coming from both Brock's and Tracey's directions.

" _La Dragonnaire_?!" the two dumbfounded young men exclaimed, once again, at the same time.

"Yes, isn't it wonderful?" Delia beamed, clasping her hands together. "The owner and I go way back; he can usually get me a reservation whenever I want one. It just so happened that Samuel and I were planning to go tonight, but when I found out my Ashy had finally asked Misty out on a date, I just had to let them have it!"

Brock and Tracey stared at each other incredulously for a brief moment before turning to meet the gaze of the increasingly perplexed Ash.

"What?" Ash asked. "What's the big deal? It's a Kalosian place, and I know Misty loves all that fancy Kalos stuff, so…"

The boy's meandering intonations were more than enough to confirm his apparent obliviousness, and the pair across from him immediately began rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter.

"It's not just a Kalosian place, Ash," Brock spluttered as the laughter began to die down. " _La Dragonnaire_ is said to be the most romantic restaurant in all of Kanto. People come from all over the world to experience it. You take Misty there, and you're pretty much admitting that you're in love with her and want her to be yours forever."

"And to think you were trying to convince us it wasn't even a date!" Tracey howled.

While they continued their juvenile bantering amongst themselves, Ash turned to his mother, his gobsmacked face lit up like a staryu's core.

"You didn't tell me about that part!" he hissed, his eyes beginning to water from the embarrassment.

"I genuinely thought you knew, sweetheart!" She chuckled uneasily. "Though I did wonder why you agreed to it so quickly."

"Great." He sighed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Hey, don't listen to them, okay?" She reached forward and tilted her son's chin up with her index finger. "They're just exaggerating to get under your skin. When you get there, you'll find it's not nearly as bad as you think it's going to be. You do like Misty, don't you?"

Ash's cheeks reddened once again. "I…I guess…"

"And you like how you feel when you're around her?"

He nodded.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." Delia smiled warmly as she stepped forward and pulled her teenage boy into a tender, motherly hug. "I'm so proud of you, you know."

"Thanks, Mom," he replied through the fabric of her pink shirt. During the embrace, Delia casually glanced over at the clock on the wall, yelping in surprise when the alarming numbers became clear to her.

"Goodness me, look at the time!" she squealed, causing Ash to fly backwards in shock. "Your table's booked in half an hour – we'd better get you over to the lab to pick up Misty!"

Across the room, a now much calmer Brock and Tracey nodded their assent, and, one by one, the group made its way out of the attic and down the stairs of the Ketchum residence towards the front door. The cool summertime breeze on Ash's face provided a welcome change from the stuffiness of the attic he had been trapped in for the last hour, and a sudden note of excitement floated atop the river of nervousness sloshing around in his stomach.

"Well…this is it," he said, turning around to the three figures standing in the doorway.

"Oh my," Delia murmured breathily, her hand on her heart and her eyes glassy with tears. "My little baby going on his first date…stay there, I have to get a picture of this!"

" _Mom_ ," Ash whined as he watched his emotional mother disappear behind the doorframe, returning a brief second later with a camera in her hand.

Just as she held the camera up to her face, Brock leant over to her and whispered a few words in her ear. The young woman sighed slightly before breaking out in a small smile and nodding her head. "I suppose you're right," she chirped amicably.

Taking that as his cue, Brock untucked his tanned arm from behind his back, revealing a small item he held in his hand.

"Catch," he called over to Ash, throwing the boy's old Pokémon League cap the short distance across the threshold and into his arms.

"On second thought, we think maybe you _should_ wear this to _La Dragonnaire_." He grinned in a friendly yet mischievous manner. "After all, how else is Misty going to know it's you, right?"

"Oh har har." Ash scowled sarcastically. In reality, however, as he slipped on the faded but still perfectly functional hat, an inexplicable feeling of warmth and relaxation overcame him. It was, indeed, a nice thought that a simple item of clothing he had been wearing the day Misty fished him out of that river would be worn again on the night of their first date together, almost seven years later.

"Now get out of here, lover boy," Brock teased, while Tracey and Delia laughed along. "Just make sure the two of you are back by ten, you hear? And don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he finished with a sly wink.

Though a small hint of pink washed over the boy's cheeks, it was clear from the smirk on his face that he had not fallen into his jesting friend's trap. "Well, I'm definitely not doing anything you _would_ do, so that doesn't leave me with many options, now does it?"

Brock's face fell, and an embarrassed bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. "I, er…tsk. Smartass."

After a quick round of goodbyes, the pokémon trainer then turned on his heel and strolled merrily up the dirt road of twilight Pallet Town in the direction of Professor Oak's laboratory, where his date was no doubt waiting eagerly for him.

Delia, Brock and Tracey remained in the doorway for quite some time, taking delight in watching their 'project' bound down the road with a charming spring in his step. A few moments of silence passed before Brock chuckled slightly as he opened his mouth to speak.

"He'll be fine," he said to no-one in particular, a peaceable smile on his face.

"I know he will," Delia agreed, her voice slightly wavy from her overwhelming influx of emotion. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"

To her right, Tracey, in contrast to his two friends, wore a markedly puzzled expression, his brow furrowed as if he were in a state of deep thought.

"Is something the matter, Tracey?" Delia asked innocently as she turned to face the pokémon watcher.

The young man shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing really. I was just wondering; why would you and the Professor have a reservation at _La Dragonnaire_? Unless…"

But before the rapidly flustered woman could answer, Tracey waved his arms dismissively in front of him and shook his head animatedly. "Actually, never mind. I don't think I want to know."


	9. Carnal

"Ash, stop, we…we can't d-do this…"

"I know…I…can't help it…"

"I…should go…"

"Relax…we've still got time…"

Misty Waterflower squirmed uneasily under the surprisingly heavy young man. "I mean it, Ash," she gasped between tender kisses. "You're smudging my makeup."

"Since when do you wear makeup?" Ash replied just as breathlessly. "Since when do you _need_ to wear makeup?"

The gym leader blushed a little at the hidden compliment in the pokémon trainer's last little remark, but otherwise managed to maintain her illusion of annoyance. "Well, excuse me for wanting to look my best for your big day!"

Ash said nothing straight away, instead choosing the safer option of leaning in for another long and passionate kiss. As their lips eventually parted, his cheek pressed against hers, and his mouth inched upwards to her right ear.

"You always look your best to me, Mist," he whispered through a lopsided smile.

The warmth of his breath in her ear sent a pleasing shiver flitting around Misty's body. "Hey, no fair!" she whined jokily. "Where did that come from? I'm supposed to be the romantic one!"

Although the young redhead wanted nothing more than to remain here with Ash for as long as she could, the precarious and somewhat taboo nature of this whole situation was keeping her constantly on edge, not to mention the fact that time was sorely against them. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, the anxious Misty attempted to wriggle off the table she was currently pinned to, only to have the shimmering hazel eyes of her best friend whip around to lock with hers.

"Oh no you don't." He chuckled, his tanned face only inches away. "Ash used Charm."

 _Not the pokémon thing again_ , Misty thought in exasperation. "It's not very effective," she smirked sardonically, earning a pout of disapproval from the pokémon-obsessed boy.

"Ha, you wish." He grinned competitively. "How about now?"

Slowly, Ash's gloved hand travelled up her smooth, pale arm, resting gently on her cheek to caress it softly. Misty sensed the impending challenge, matching his grin with an inward one of her own; at the same time, however, the slightly rough feeling of his fingertips on her face sent her already pounding heart into overdrive, and she could do very little to keep herself from trembling at his touch.

"K-Keep…working on it," she stuttered.

Of course, this was not enough to deter him, and he gradually kissed his way down the side of her face, slowly sliding down the strap of her yellow tank top once he reached her shoulder. Burying his face in her neck, Ash smiled when he caught a whiff of her floral Celadon City perfume.

"Mmm…Misty used Sweet Scent."

Admittedly, this one made her giggle. "Oh Ash, grow up."

As unfazed as she claimed to be by Ash's impromptu 'narration', Misty could feel a fresh shade of crimson staining her cheeks with each new line he spewed out. Ash had picked up on this also, and, after another brief round of kisses, the pokémon trainer gasped exaggeratedly and propped himself up on his arms, his head hovering high above Misty's.

"Aha!" he cried in a tone befitting that of a League commentator. "Misty used her 'Colour Change' ability! Now that is one ingenious technique!"

Misty rolled her eyes, the novelty of Ash's puerile spiel having all but run its course. "Ash, for Mew's sake, what have I told you about saying stuff like that when we're…you know…"

Predictably, though, Ash just grinned once again. "You know you love it really."

"I do no- aahh, oh my god…A-Ash…"

The changeable gym leader's words died in her throat when she felt Ash's hand trailing up the length of her bare leg, stopping just as it reached the hem of her jean shorts.

"I think I've got another one," he crooned as he gently lowered himself back down on top of her, giving Misty a full view of the blinding changing room lights on the ceiling.

"Ash used Lovely Kiss! It's super effe-"

"How about 'Misty used Kick Ash Into Next Week If He Quotes One More Goddamn Pokémon Move'?" She glowered threateningly at the boy nestled in the curve of her shoulder.

Though Ash recoiled slightly, the smile on his face remained, much to Misty's chagrin. "Hey, I'm just practicing for my match like you told me to! Gotta get my revision in, you know?"

Misty wanted to be angry, but a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth after hearing such a pathetic excuse, and, infuriatingly, the childlike purity of his crooked smile only made her want him even more.

"Argh…just shut up and kiss me, you dork."

For the next few minutes, the two lustful young adults allowed themselves to indulge uninterruptedly in their most primal of urges. The kisses became faster and more intense, while limbs coiled around each other and heartbeats increased by the second. Atop a small desk in Ash's designated changing room was clearly far from an ideal setting, but as soon as the pair locked eyes with each other that day, a mixture of stress-induced adrenaline and deep-seated longing had compelled the two old friends to give in to their carnal desires in the heat of the moment. Misty ran her hands through Ash's raven hair, knocking his red cap to the ground, while Ash bit her lower lip, smiling at the moaning sound that reached his ears soon after. Both were absorbed fully in each other's affection, and it seemed like no force on Earth would be able to break them apart. Only when Misty felt Ash's hand slip inside her shirt did she finally come to her senses.

"Ash, no, we haven't got time," she stopped him in a soft but firm manner. "There's only-"

But, right on cue, a knock at the door succinctly made her point for her – as well as making her jump nearly out of her skin.

"Ten minutes, Mr. Ketchum!" a gruff male voice sounded from behind the door. Ash leapt to his feet, straightening out his black t-shirt and looking around the room for his lucky jacket.

"O-Okay…be right out!" he called shakily over his shoulder.

As soon as the footsteps on the other side of the door began to fade away, Misty slid off the desk and grabbed her lover forcefully by the collar.

"See?!" she yelled right in his face. "That's exactly what I was trying to warn you about! What if he had come in and seen us…like that? We are _not_ cutting it this close again, you hear me?"

Ash scratched his head embarrassedly as he pulled open the door and stepped out into the corridor with the irate girl. "You worry too much, Mist," he finally said. "He didn't come in, though, did he? We've been careful about this, just like you wanted."

"You call that careful?" she snapped, lowering her voice when she realised how much her words echoed in the tiled hallways of the Indigo Stadium.

"I…er…"

"This is for your benefit as much as mine, you know," she reminded him. "What do you think will happen if the press gets word that the favourite to win this year's Indigo League and his best friend of eleven years – who also happens to be a gym leader – have been fooling around together for the past six months?"

Ash grimaced at the rather cold description Misty gave for the momentous evolution of their friendship. Sure, what she was referring to was definitely a part of it – a good part of it, too, he acknowledged with a slight grin – but they both knew that their newfound closeness was far more than just on a physical level. Though neither had been bold enough to say the telltale four-letter word to the other, Ash could not shake the feeling that it was inevitable at some point, and it would not be long before the need to sneak around behind everyone's backs like this was no longer necessary.

"But today of all days…" she continued. "Heck, I told myself I was only coming down here to wish you luck, and then…"

"Do you regret any of it?" Ash asked innocently, realising straight away that his question sounded more serious out loud than it did in his head.

Misty kept walking, turning slightly to face him. "What? No, of course I don't, you know that! I only meant that today we shouldn't have…argh, stop twisting my words!"

Ash remained silent, but smiled over at the frustrated redhead as they continued on down the long corridor.

"Your mom's probably wondering where I am by now," she said quietly to herself.

"Er, I'm sure she knows, Mist," he stated apprehensively.

Misty shot a glare of terror across at her wincing companion. "What did you do?" she huffed accusatively.

Ash held his hands up in front of his face. "I haven't done anything, honest!" he admitted. "But, you know, she's my mom; I'm sure she'd have figured it out at some point. Also, er, I think Brock knows, too."

Trying his best to ignore the eye-rolling coming from Misty's direction, he took in a breath to elucidate. "Remember last week when you guys stayed over at mine? Well, he, er, made a comment in the morning about how, um, loud we are…"

Instantly, Misty's mouth fell open, and her cheeks were afire with a radiant scarlet hue. Soon after, when noticing the peculiar look she was receiving, her brow furrowed and she began to bare her teeth in irritation.

"I hope you're not insinuating that it was me," she growled in an eerily quiet manner.

Ash was shocked at her counter-insinuation. "Well it wasn't me!"

"Must have been, because it definitely wasn't me!"

"You sure? I seem to remember you screaming pretty good that night."

"Ha, don't make me laugh! You're not as good as you think you are, Ketchum!"

"Well, that was just uncalled for."

"It wasn't me, okay?! Just…shut up!"

Ash may have been oblivious to people's emotions when it came to just about everyone else, but Misty was a different story, and he liked to think he knew her well enough to pick up on when she was hiding something.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something else on your mind other than avoiding the press?" He smiled softly, affectionately nudging the flushed girl's shoulder.

Misty sighed at his selective perceptiveness, but nudged him back nonetheless. Shaking off her momentary anger, she unglued her eyes from the floor and turned them towards her concerned best friend.

"…Fine," she yielded. "It's just that…what if I'm, you know…distracting you?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "From what?"

She pointed exaggeratedly to the pictures of past champions all over the walls. "What do you think?"

Some seconds later, the pokémon trainer gave a small nod in understanding.

"You've been waiting for this day ever since I met you," she continued. "I know this means everything to you, and I know how well you've been training these last few months, but things between us have, um…developed…during that time too, and I just can't help thinking, what if today doesn't go how you want it to because your mind's on me instead of the battle?"

Misty hung her head as she tried to catch her breath after her monologue. Ash, meanwhile, was unable to tear his eyes away from her. Her selfless words had touched him in more ways than he was able to comprehend, and all he could do was stare, smiling lovingly down at his redheaded almost-girlfriend as if she had just handed him the champion's trophy there and then.

He stopped in his tracks, causing Misty to do the same, and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "You still don't get it, do you?" he said warmly, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

As he expected, she cocked her head to the side in confusion, so he swiftly carried on. "You're right, Mist. I'm not the same little kid I used to be; there are other things on my mind besides just pokémon, but that doesn't mean I'm not still totally dedicated to battling. Wanna know why?"

She nodded meekly in his comforting hold.

"Because now I've got something to fight for."

"I…still don't understand," Misty spoke up softly.

"Isn't it obvious?" he began merrily, "I wouldn't be where I am right now if it wasn't for you. You were always there to push me, to motivate me when I was down, to make me the best I could be, so how could you not be constantly on my mind when I'm battling? We may be, er, closer now, but I could never consider you a distraction. I guess what I'm trying to say is, when I go out there, I'm going to be fighting for you just as much as myself."

Ash's speech was all the vulnerable young woman needed to hear, and with a flash of orange, Misty rushed towards him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Ash," she whispered, her voice low and melodious. "I hope you know that I'll always be there for you, whenever you need me. And…" She pulled back to meet his gaze with a sly smile on her face. "If you promise to do your best today, maybe I'll be… _there_ for you some more later tonight."

The wide-eyed boy's cheeks tingled with heat, and a juvenile grin appeared on his face almost immediately.

"I, er, may have to take you up on that," he responded in kind.

For the remainder of the short walk down the corridor, the pair settled into a comfortable silence, each letting the other's words of the last few minutes sink in further. With each step Ash took, the roar of the crowds in the stadium became louder and louder, and the gravity of his upcoming battle that much more real, but as he glanced occasionally over to his right, the reminder that he would not have to face such a challenge alone perpetually kept his worries at bay.

"So…I guess I should go and get my pokémon now," he stated awkwardly as they reached the challenger's tunnel.

"Yeah," Misty replied, her hands behind her back.

"You'll, er, be watching, right?" he asked.

Misty reached over to flick him on the nose. "Actually no, I figured I'd be hitting the road about now," she said dryly. "Of course I'm going to be watching, you idiot! Where do you think I'm going?"

Ash scratched the back of his head once again. "Just thought I'd better ask," he mumbled sheepishly.

Smiling, the redhead leaned in closer and planted a soft kiss on the fidgety young man's cheek, something that calmed him almost completely.

"You're going to do fine," she reassured him. "Win or lose, you'll always be a champion to me, Mr. Pokémon Master."

"Thanks, Mist," he answered before turning around to walk slowly down the tunnel.

"Ash, wait!" Misty called after him a few seconds later, causing him to swivel back around to face her.

"What is it? Is there something in my teeth?" he asked.

She shook her head, but at the same time, the words she had been meaning to say escaped her in that very moment. The L-word danced on the tip of her tongue, but she forced herself to withhold it for likely the hundredth time that week. Even now, the time did not seem right. Perhaps after the battle, she decided to herself.

"I, er, just wanted to say that…these last six months, the things that have happened between us…it was n-never just fooling around to me…"

Something about Misty's 'confession' caused Ash's heart to leap dramatically, and his hand instinctively shot up to his breast pocket, squeezing the small, square velvet box that lay inside. He turned back around towards the stadium entrance, drinking in the familiar crowd chants and emotionless League commentary, and just before taking that first fateful step, the grinning pokémon trainer looked backwards over his shoulder at the blushing young girl he adored so.

"Me neither, Mist," he replied with unwavering certainty. "Me neither."


	10. Lung

Time seemed to stand still as Ash's lifeless body hit the water. The Beast of the Sea had fallen, defeated by the very titans it had arisen to quell, and plummeted with an almighty splash down to the icy depths below, taking with it its two helpless passengers, a young boy and his pikachu. For Misty, it was one of the most horrifying things she had ever seen, an image that would surely haunt her forever – but there was no time to think about that now. She had to save them.

Tying a rope around her waist, she wasted no time in diving straight into the water and paddling furiously towards the spot in the distance where she had seen him fall. The waves were fierce, and the frigid wind smashed against her face like a shot from a cannon, but the aspiring water pokémon master was a natural born swimmer, and was able to navigate her way through the churning waters without much difficulty.

"Ash!" she shouted, her head on a swivel as she searched frantically for any sign of her friend. The bright red of his hat occasionally glinted over at her above the rolling waves, enough to guide her in roughly the right direction, but the redhead was still, for the most part, allowing her instincts to lead her to him. As the gap between them became narrower and narrower, she caught sight of a small, yellow shape, thrashing wildly about in the water.

"Pikachupi!"

"Pikachu!" Misty cried in relief, a mere second before she laid eyes on the unconscious pokémon trainer beside him.

"Oh god," she whispered, swimming in close and wrapping her arm around them both. With a small tug of the rope, she felt herself slowly being pulled back to the shore by their older friend, Tracey, wincing slightly at the rough feeling of the cord against the exposed small of her back. The shrieks of the warring pokémon above her were terrifying, and the onslaught of waves on her return journey made it difficult to stay above the water, yet all the anxious young girl could focus on was Ash, her cloudy eyes never leaving his motionless face.

As they reached the bank, Misty was suddenly aware of how much her perilous rescue had exhausted her, and was forced to leave Tracey to pull the young boy out of the water while she gasped desperately for air on her hands and knees. The instant she caught her breath, however, she was right back over at Ash's side, shaking his arm frantically.

"Come on, Ash," she pleaded. "Breathe."

"You've got to!" Tracey said as he shuffled over to the opposite side.

"Pikapi!" squeaked Pikachu worriedly.

The panic in Misty's voice began to intensify. "Please, Ash, please, you can't…"

But no matter how hard she shook him, no matter how tightly she held onto his cold, drenched shoulder, Ash did not so much as stir. Her lip began to quiver, and in a spontaneous attempt to fight back her incoming torrent of tears, she lunged forward and slapped her friend harshly across the face.

"WAKE UP!" she screamed, her voice cracking as she grabbed hold of his shirt collar. "YOU HEAR ME?! I SAID WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!"

"Misty…" Tracey sighed, his own voice wavering from the stress.

She turned her body around to face him, though her glassy eyes were still transfixed on the hand she had just struck Ash with. "T-Tracey, he's so cold!" She looked back down to his pallid face. "What do we do?"

The pokémon watcher glanced down at the pokéballs on Ash's belt. "Call Charizard, Misty! We need to warm him up!"

Nodding limply, Misty fumbled for the tiny metallic sphere, enlarging it with a click of the central button and unleashing the mighty orange dragon in a flash of white light.

"GRROOOAAAHHH!" the proud pokémon roared, a few licks of flame sputtering out from its mouth.

The redhead knew what she wanted to say, but the painful lump in her throat strangled her words before she could vocalise them, and she looked feebly up at Charizard with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"…T-Tail…" was all she could squeeze out without breaking down completely. As her shaking hand pointed to the brilliant blaze at the tip of the body part in question, Misty could have sworn she saw a look of genuine concern in the typically unflappable dragon's eyes before it nodded in understanding and extended its tail out towards Ash's slightly blue visage.

"Stay with me, Ash," she whispered, her mouth curling into a partial smile. "You still owe me a bike, remember?"

But whatever consolation the attempted humour of such a quip might have granted her was dashed instantly by the mental self-torture she brought upon herself straight after. How could she even think about making jokes at a time like this? The sight before her was far from a laughing matter, and time was certainly of the essence. Ash had had more brushes with death than anyone Misty had ever met; she had seen him jump off cliffs, dodge explosions by the skin of his teeth, turn to stone at the hands of Mew and Mewtwo; she had even found him literally dead once, a soulless husk lying on the crooked floorboards of Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower – but she had never witnessed anything like this before. He looked so vulnerable, so mortal, a far cry from the rambunctious and devil-may-care persona he usually adopted, and despite the traces of colour returning to his cheeks from the warmth of Charizard's tail, the redhead could not help but sob quietly as she reached over and placed a tentative hand on the side of his neck.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu repeated uneasily, poking at his master's leg.

As Misty's fingers traced Ash's jawline, a sickening thought suddenly occurred to her, and a hurried series of two-fingered prods to the fleshy part of his neck confirmed to her what she had feared.

"Oh god, h-he's got no pulse!" she exclaimed. "A-And I don't think he's breathing either! Help! Somebody, anybody, please help!"

The girl was practically in a frenzy, and tears were now pouring down her reddened cheeks. Though alarmed by the serious turn of events, Tracey knew there was no sense in panicking, and stepped forward into his younger friend's field of view.

"Misty! Misty, calm down!" he tried to shout over her futile cries for help. "There's no way you can help Ash in this state. We need to revive him, quickly!"

His words succeeded in jolting her to her senses, but in the stress and pressure of the moment, the redhead realised that her mind had gone blank. "How?" she cried back.

"You're a gym leader, aren't you? Don't you know CPR?"

Misty's eyes widened. Of course! The Pokémon League demanded such basic first-aid training from its gym leaders, and the Waterflower sisters were particularly well-versed in resuscitation techniques given their passion for all things aquatic. She knew she remembered the steps perfectly, having been made to practice them more times than she cared to count; she had just hoped not to ever have to use them for real – especially on someone she cared so deeply about.

Returning Charizard to its pokéball to give herself more room, she scooted as close as she could to Ash's left side and placed her intertwined hands, one on top of the other, delicately over his heart. Then, after summoning the last of her inner strength, she began to press down firmly in a series of short bursts, roughly one or two per second.

"One, two, three, four, five," she panted along to her steady rhythm, her sobbing having mostly died down as a result of her concentration on the task at hand. Another group of five followed, then another, with Misty periodically lowering her ear to his chest to check for any signs of breathing.

"Come on, Ash, come on," she mumbled, her teeth clenched in frustration. This seemed to be getting her nowhere, and the most recent series of compressions only emphasised such. But there was another technique she had not yet tried, one she had dreaded using even more than the first, and a growing sense of fear began to engorge within her as the redhead realised just what it was she was about to do – and, more terrifyingly, who she was about to do it to.

However, any hesitation she had was purely in her mind, and she immediately moved to the appropriate position, her head hovering directly above his. His lungs were undoubtedly full of water, she reminded herself; it had to be done. This situation could not have been further from the ways she had imagined feeling Ash's lips on hers for the first time – and, boy, had she imagined – but this was absolutely not the time to be worrying about something so trivial in the grand scheme of things. She needed to act now, and sacrificing but one ideal moment of her flowery, girlish fantasies was the very least she would do to save her best friend's life.

Resting one of her hands against his chin and lightly pinching his nose with the other, Misty gently pulled Ash's mouth open, drew in the deepest breath she could manage, then closed her eyes and leaned in.

His lips were cold – though not nearly as cold as his cheek had been when she slapped him – and surprisingly dry for someone who was soaked to the bone. The breath she released into him was weak and ragged, a poor excuse for a so-called 'kiss of life' (despite the urgency of the situation, her sudden recollection of the term still caused her to blush uncontrollably), but she told herself that it had to be better than nothing, and continued to exhale until she could no more.

"Pikachupi," Pikachu purred over at her.

Misty looked up, shooting a meaningful look in the damp electric mouse's direction. Tracey may not have known the two of them for nearly as long, relatively speaking, but the young girl was certain that if there was anyone else in the world who could understand even a fraction of how she was feeling right now, it was Pikachu. The sympathetic expression was equal parts sadness and determination, a silent promise that, no matter what happened, she would keep trying until the very end.

"Help me," she called meekly over to Tracey, who promptly crawled up to Ash's right side and resumed the task she had abandoned just seconds ago.

The pair then proceeded to alternate systematically between their respective jobs, with Misty performing her mouth-to-mouth aid whenever Tracey completed a set number of compressions, and vice versa. Not a word was spoken to each other during this process, the only sound aside from the occasional whimper or heavy sigh being the young redhead's soft words of comfort:

"You're gonna be okay, Ash, I'm here…"

"Just hold on…"

"I'm going to get you through this, Ash, I've got to. I've got to…"

Yet, the longer this went on, the more Misty felt the hope in her heart slipping away, and although she remained almost obsessively focused on her efforts to save him, the tone of her words declined drastically with every bittersweet fragment she forced out.

"Please d-don't do this to me," she sobbed as the tears escaped from her eyes once again. She reached down to hold Ash's gloved hand, squeezing it gently, "Don't go."

All of a sudden, a huge explosion sounded from high in the sky, and Misty's head shot upwards in fright. One of the legendary birds had taken a direct hit from its two opponents and crashed into the side of the cliff, but recovered almost instantly and flew off to reclaim its role in the ongoing mini-apocalypse around them. Realising that she was not in any immediate danger, her eyes descended back down to Ash, but not before the gym leader caught a brief glance of the Shamouti Island shrine, their destination, where the festival maiden, Melody, was surely waiting for them.

Melody. As provocative and infuriating as she had been all throughout this tumultuous day, the enigmatic girl had, to both Misty's relief and embarrassment, eventually managed to break through the redhead's rocky exterior, allowing her to see just how much Ash meant to her. Their conversation only moments ago said it all; that he would never really be alone because he had her. And he would always have her, for she would never leave him – especially now that, after almost two years of wondering, she had finally come to terms with her true feelings.

"Th-The world needs you, Ash," Misty cried, almost inaudibly due to her aching swell of emotion. " _I_ need you. I…"

Without waiting for Tracey to finish his turn, she leant down, placing her mouth over Ash's, and exhaled a short but infinitely powerful message, the three little words soaring straight from her heart down into his lungs:

"I love you."

She let her lips linger on his slightly longer than usual before pulling away, a warm blush across her face. When she noticed Tracey had not moved to recommence the compressions, she snapped her eyes over to him and glared in a manner that seemed to say, "What the hell are you doing?!"

But she was not prepared to waste any more time like this, and was just about to leap over to do it herself when the pokémon watcher suddenly spoke up.

"Misty…" he started, his voice low and shaky. "I…I think…"

"NO!" she barked, her heart nearly imploding as she recognised that foreboding tone, "DON'T YOU SAY THAT! DON'T YOU D-DARE SAY THAT!"

She could not believe it. She _would_ not believe it. There would be no giving up – she had being telling herself that on a loop for what seemed like an eternity at this point – but her frantic rush towards the lifeless Ash was halted when Tracey twisted her around by the shoulders to face him.

"Misty, please," he practically begged, though there was little to no strength in his voice. "We need to…let him go…"

The teenager's morbid statement cut through her like a knife, robbing her of all the energy she had to fight back. "B-But, we have to…n-no…no, you…y-you can't mean…"

In a fraction of a second, Misty's long legs gave out underneath her, and she collapsed onto her best friend's chest, holding onto him for dear life as the floodgates opened as wide as they would go. She cried from the very bottom of her soul, barely able to breathe between the tidal waves of raw emotion spilling out of her. In that crushing moment, it mattered not to the broken young girl that the whole world was at stake, because her whole world had already come to an end, and now all she could do was mourn him.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu whimpered, his eyes filling with tears at the heartbreaking sight.

"C-Come back, Ash," Misty spluttered as she continued to bawl inconsolably. "Please come back…"

Nothing would be the same now. Her Ash was gone, and the world was all the lesser for it. Amongst the unbearable cocktail of thoughts careening around her head, the redhead could not help but dwell on the realisation that she would have to be the one to tell everyone about this. How on Earth was she going to break the news to Brock? How could she possibly look Delia Ketchum in the eyes and tell the woman who had been like a mother to her that her only son was…

"CHUUUUUUUUU!"

"AAAAHHH!"

Before Misty could react, she and Ash were engulfed in a thick net of electricity, the yellow energy coursing all through her body. The unpleasant sensation lasted but a few seconds, yet it was enough to leave the already fragile girl utterly charred and depleted.

"Urrggh," she coughed dizzily. At the very least, the unexpected thundershock had mostly put an end to her crying. As she creaked her aching body around to face the source of the attack, however, a subtle shift in the weight beneath her stopped her in her tracks, and the light groaning sound that followed caused what was left of her breath to seize in her throat.

"A-Ash?" she whispered, her bloodshot eyes widening.

"Pikachu, do that again!" Tracey cried.

This time, Misty was able to get out of the way, and watched with a wholly indecipherable expression as Pikachu aimed another burst of electricity at his master's body.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Misty's heart was beating out of her chest, and she scooted back over to her singed friend's head, her hand floating upwards to rest on his cheek. As with before, he was completely still. A fresh batch of tears filled her eyes, and she tore her gaze away from him for fear that she would lose it again. She was so sure she had felt something just now, so sure she heard his voice; had she merely imagined it in her grief?

" _Mmrghm_ …"

As soon as her head whipped back around to the front, the gasping redhead was suddenly met with a face full of seawater.

"Ash!" Tracey exclaimed, rushing over to help the coughing pokémon trainer.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked in joy and relief.

Misty, meanwhile, was rendered speechless, the influx of euphoria she was experiencing making her feel slightly lightheaded.

"Y-You're…a-alive," she managed to say, her tears having all but gone.

Once Ash had recovered enough to be able to sit up, his hand quickly travelled down to the pocket of his jeans, and a look of determination washed over his face.

"The sphere!" was the first thing he said, taking from his pocket a smooth glass orb with a kind of bluish energy churning about inside it.

He then turned around and proceeded to make his way towards the steps leading to the shrine, stumbling every so often but never once looking for help. He was on a mission, a mission only he, the fabled Chosen One, could complete, and nothing was going to stand in his way. This kind of selfless resolve was one of the many reasons that Misty loved him as much as she did.

Picking herself off the ground, she followed closely behind, running to his aid whenever he fell but otherwise saying nothing. Ash would never know of how she swam out into the treacherous waters to save him, how she, along with Tracey and Pikachu, went to such efforts to revive him, how she cried for him when she thought he was dead – but none of that was important anymore. Her best friend was very much alive, and that was all that mattered to her. As Misty watched him struggle up the final steps, his eyes unwaveringly fixed forward towards his objective, the first real smile she had attempted since before they arrived on Shamouti Island the previous afternoon crept onto her blushing face, and a long, passionate sigh sailed forth from her lungs, telling her that, despite what she and her friends had just been through, everything was going to be alright.

"Go save the world, Ash."

Prophecy or not, he was her Chosen One, and she would never doubt that again.


	11. Preach

Preach

Misty laid her evening's entertainment out on the long coffee table, eyeing each item with great fondness: two tubs of her favourite Alto Mare ice cream, a two-litre bottle of Kalosian iced tea, and a slab of chocolate big enough to feed a family of feraligatr. Indeed, it had truly been one of those days.

Maintaining a pokémon gym all by herself was as time-consuming as it was physically demanding, rarely granting her the opportunity to properly sit down and unwind. In her mind, it certainly justified the occasional unapologetic pig-out night. A bit of company wouldn't go amiss, like always (human company, that was; Psyduck had refused to leave her side all night), but given the young woman's present mood, being alone this time seemed like a far lesser evil than having to suffer the ramblings of her airheaded older sisters.

Naturally, though, the second that thought crossed her mind, in they strolled.

"Heya!" sang the trio, identical looks of vacant bliss on their porcelain faces. They strutted through the door in age order, oldest to youngest: Daisy first, Violet second, then Lily third. Misty smiled somewhat dourly at them as they pranced straight through to the kitchen at the end of the long living room.

Turning back to her comfort food (and the guarding thereof from one gluttonous yellow duck), the 20-year-old tried her best to reattach herself to the generic chick flick she had flipped the TV to moments ago. Yet, all she could focus on was her sisters' nattering in the next room. Their shrill giggling was unmistakeable, and as she noticed a couple of them loitering around the doorframe to her left, the youngest Waterflower knew exactly what was about to happen. She could have almost set her watch by it.

"So I've, like, started this new diet plan," came the blue-haired Violet's piercing drawl. "You guys should totally check it out!"

A few of Lily's pink curls appeared from behind the door. "I mean I'm already, like, working out like crazy these days, but sure, why not? A Sensational Sister can't be sitting around eating junk like  _ice cream_ , after all."

"Ugh, don't even, like, joke about that! Do you know how many calories are in one of those tubs? Like, a lot!"

"Exactly! I would, like,  _never_  touch the stuff! I guess that's why we're the most beautiful, huh, Vi?"

They'd had plenty of practice at this, of course. The way they emphasised certain words; the air of superiority with which they spoke; the cowardly glances over at her as if to say 'keep out of this conversation that's so blatantly about you'; it had all been honed to perfection over the many years Misty had spent at the Cerulean gym. She had learned to block it out to some extent, but every so often she would fall into their trap, and tonight's episode was seriously testing her already shaky resolve.

"Hey, have you tried this new organic yoghurt?" Daisy said. "It's, like, amazing! Totally eliminates all those, ahem… _cravings_ …"

Her voice was raised unnaturally high, and Misty could tell it was because they wanted her to hear. This really was the lowest form of abuse she took from them. Their insults she could handle, as they always remained the same, but it was the way they delivered them – so preachy, so patronising – that caused her to crack time after time.

"You know," the redhead began, sarcasm permeating her words, "you girls ought to try the café down the road. They've got the most exquisite bottled water there: all natural ingredients, and not a calorie in sight."

In some subconscious act of defiance, she picked up her two ice cream tubs, dual-wielding pistachio and razz berry ripple as the procession of instigators skipped back into the living room.

"Ooh, saucer of milk for Misty here!" Lily giggled, her little sister's comment apparently only having encouraged them. "Like, what's got your suspenders in a twist?"

Misty blushed angrily at Lily's subtle jab at her old travelling outfit. "Nothing! I was perfectly fine until you three came in and starting clucking on about your stupid diets!"

They slid onto the two sofas perpendicular to hers, Violet and Lily on the left one and Daisy on the right.

"You could, like, learn something from that, you know," Daisy smugly suggested. "It's never too late to start if you stick to the program!"

"No thanks," she grunted, putting her ice cream tubs down and helping herself to another spoonful of each.

"And you're, like, totally lying," Violet chipped in. "You only buy all this nasty junk food when you're really sad about something."

"Psy-y-y…" groaned Psyduck, as if to agree with her.

"It's not junk, and I'm not sad," Misty muttered through clenched teeth.

"Oh, you so totally are!" the ever-tactful Lily goaded.

"I am not!"

"Yeah you are, I can, like, tell by your little pouty face! What's got our precious baby sis down, hmm?"

Through half-lidded eyes, Misty glared cynically over at her sister. "Huh. For a moment there, it actually sounded like you cared."

The pink-haired woman's expression changed from jovial to downright arrogant, the familiar look of haughtiness that Misty so despised.

"Fine then, be that way," Lily replied, earning a pair of amused giggles from Daisy and Violet. "We'll just leave you to your ice cream while we sit here enjoying how beautiful and skinny we are."

On some level, Misty knew it would be best to remain silent, to let them tire themselves out and eventually leave her alone. But tonight she was in the mood for a good confrontation – especially considering that she had already been deprived of one argument today.

"I bet you'd be a lot skinnier if I locked you in the aquarium for a couple of weeks," she sniped, her teal eyes panning from one sister to another.

"Like, there's a difference between skinny and scrawny, Little Miss Miltank!" Violet proclaimed proudly.

 _Scrawny_. It was one of their oldest insults, and still one of their favourites. Clearly, it mattered not to them that Misty had, in fact, filled out quite pleasingly in recent years, now sporting a lithe but toned figure that had drawn the eye of more than a few of her gym challengers (not that she wanted them to notice her; the only one whom she would thank for  _that_  kind of attention was far, far away).

"How can I be scrawny  _and_  a miltank, genius?!" Misty barked back at her.

"Well, uhh…" Violet faltered, thrown off by the questionable logic of her previous gibe. "Well, y-you're gonna be one soon if you keep, like, stuffing your face, moody!"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "What's it to you?! I can eat whatever I want without you three sirens breathing down my neck about it!"

"Are you kidding?" Lily gasped. "We can't have you, like, letting yourself go! If you look bad, it makes us look bad, got it?"

Her words made Misty choke a little on her iced tea. That had been a particularly bitchy remark, even from Lily.

"Speaking of which," smiled Daisy, who paused to blow a few strands of blonde hair off her face, "now you're older, don't you think we should talk about your, like, wardrobe?"

Misty couldn't help but notice that her oldest sister had been strangely quiet for most of this little group therapy session. Daisy got on her nerves a lot less these days, perhaps because she actually made some effort to help her around the gym every now and then. But although her three sisters were unique and individual in their own small ways, when it came to fashion they were, for all intents and purposes, completely interchangeable.

"Not this again," the young Waterflower whined.

"Oh, lighten up, sis!" Violet chirped. "Like, would it kill you to wear a little makeup once in a while?"

"What for? I don't go anywhere," Misty answered, deciding to humour them for at least the time being.

"When's that ever stopped anyone?" she replied. "And also, you've, like, just gotta start dressing more, er…femininely."

"I know, right?" Lily cackled somewhat spitefully. "I can't believe you'd rather wear a faded old hoodie and, like, those baggy jean shorts than any of the cute outfits we handed down to you!"

The redhead glanced down at her yellow sleeveless top for any sign of the aforementioned fading. When she found none, she looked straight back up, her eyebrows furrowed. "I like this outfit," she stated. "It's comfy."

Violet was practically hyperventilating at this point. "But…b-but you could be so pretty in those! Daisy, tell her!"

"It would be nice to see you wearing something more, like, flattering for a change," Daisy opined. "Show off some of that creamy Waterflower skin, you know?"

"I thought you just said I was scrawny," Misty smirked at Violet. "And I've seen how much skin you girls show off; forgive me if I don't rush to thank you for the opportunity."

"Hey, don't be such a buzzkill," Daisy moaned playfully. "I know you're, like, our little tomboyish mermaid, but even  _you've_  gotta be beautiful sometimes! Think how much better you'd look if you let the Sensational Sisters give you a makeover!"

"You know I hate it when you call me that!" the irked girl spat. "I'm so sick of this!"

"Sick of what?" Daisy persevered. "Don't you like feeling gorgeous?"

"Of course I do!" she growled. "But I'm sick of the way you preach on about this like you're better than me just because I don't wear six-inch heels to go to the goddamn post office!"

For a tense few seconds, there was silence. Even Psyduck had put a stop to his incoherent warbling to gaze up at his trainer. Misty let out an eerily slow exhale. As angry as she still was, it had, at least, felt good to finally air that particular grievance.

"Ooh, man, you've got a tongue like a seviper tonight!" Lily sneered, seemingly unfazed. "Whatever's set you off, it must be, like, pretty serious."

"Or  _who_ ever…" teased Violet, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Misty's face began to heat up, and she gulped in an unintentionally dramatic fashion. These conversations always devolved into this at some point. Thankfully, she hadn't burnt herself out just yet.

"I'm really not in the mood for this today," she snarled.

"Well, you're not making much of an effort to, like, get up and leave," Lily observed.

"WHY SHOULD I?! I WAS IN HERE FIRST!"

"Ouch!" winced the blunette to her left. "You'll, like, never get a boy to notice you with that attitude, missy!"

"And why would I want a boy to notice me?" Misty asked sharply.

"Like, who doesn't? Just imagine how many admirers you'd get if you stopped looking and acting like such a runt all the time!"

If looks could kill, Violet and Lily would surely be no more by now.

"I'll have you know I've had quite a few admirers already," the young woman snapped. "And they all liked me just the way I am, thank you very much."

"Like who?" they asked at the same time.

"Well, there was a guy called Rudy who asked me to live with him when we were in the Orange Islands; that was a pretty big deal. Then, a few years ago, a boy named Georgio asked me out on a date, but I, er, had to turn him down."

Lily and Violet looked at each other, then back over at Misty. "That's it?" Violet spoke up incredulously.

Misty suddenly seemed rather embarrassed. "Well, um…a few people called me pretty while I was travelling, and-"

"That's nothing! Imagine how many  _more_  guys you'd get if you made yourself beautiful like us!"

"You could start by, like, letting your hair out of that goofy side ponytail for one thing," grimaced Lily.

Shocked and irritated, the redhead reached up to the ponytail in question, clutching it as if she were afraid that one of them was going to tear it off.

"Totally!" Daisy agreed. "Why don't you wear your hair down, Misty? It's, like, so much prettier that way!"

She shrugged. "It gets in my face when I'm battling."

"But you're not battling now, right?"

"I…"

"Ooh, I've just thought!" squeaked Violet. "Remember when you had your hair down for the underwater ballet we put on, like, ten years ago, the one where you were the mermaid? That little black-haired guy you were travelling with, like, couldn't keep his eyes off you!"

While Misty's face quickly contorted into a look of pure horror, Lily sat forward, her manicured hand stroking her chin. "The guy with the pikachu? Oh yeah, he's cute. I've seen her, like, talking to him on the phone before. What's his name again? Alan? Alf? I know it, like, starts with an 'A'…"

It was during this conversation that Misty noticed Daisy had, once again, gone quiet. None of her sisters were particularly known for their perceptiveness, but as the oldest sibling, Daisy had taken on a sort of motherly quality over the years, and thus was a lot quicker to pick up on certain moods and habits of Misty's, something that, in this instance at least, did not sit well with her at all.

"It's Ash," the 26-year-old mumbled before stretching her mouth into a furtive grin. "Oh my god, that's it, isn't it? Ash was supposed to call you today, and he didn't!"

First came Violet and Lily's squeals of understanding, followed by a three-part harmony of "Awwww!" aimed directly at the beet red girl before them. Beside her, Psyduck moved his pudgy hands down from his head to his cheeks and smirked impishly.

" _Psyyyy_ …"

"Shut your beak," she whispered angrily.

"Like, Misty, that's so sad!" Lily cried in a manner that was anything but genuine. "We had no idea you were so, like, crazy about him!"

"Seriously?" Daisy chimed in. "She's been, like, totally in love with him ever since she met him!"

"I have not!" Misty fumed, fists clenched at her side.

"Oh, how cute!" cooed Violet. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Th-There's nothing to tell!"

The longer this went on, the more embarrassed the redhead became, and the more her sisters' slushy utterances started to meld together:

"Look, she's blushing!"

"Aww, our baby sis is in luuurve!"

"So when's the wedding?"

"You guys should totally-"

"ENOUGH!"

Misty had let this drag on for far too long. As her fist made contact with the table, the half-empty bottle of iced tea toppled over the edge and onto the floor (thankfully it was sealed), while the ice cream tubs wobbled precariously from side to side. Her sisters promptly ceased their taunting and sank sheepishly back into their seats.

"I am not in love with Ash Ketchum!" Misty shrieked, though her crimson face seemed at odds with her words. "He's just a dense, stupid, hardheaded little moron who can't even bother to call his best friend for two and a half months! Why would I care about someone like that? Why should I give a crap about where he is or what he's doing? Why should-"

A sudden lump in her throat forced her to cut her rant short, and she leapt off the sofa to the corner of the room, turning her back to her prying sisters. She couldn't let them see her cry. Psyduck looked on in confusion.

"Duck?" he uttered, holding his aching head.

Contrary to popular belief, however, Misty's sisters were not completely made of stone, and their teasing expressions melted away almost instantly. After a quick look at one another, Daisy was elected as the one to break the silence.

"Hey, Misty, we're sorry," she said from over the back of her sofa. "We, like, didn't mean to upset you, honest! But if he really does mean that much to you, why don't  _you_  call  _him_? Does he have a pokégear?"

With her back still turned, Misty shook her head. "No. That would be sensible," she muttered, something that brought a little smile to her lips. "Besides, if he wanted to talk to me, he would've called already."

"Well, you did say he's dense. Maybe he just forgot?"

She sighed. "…Maybe…"

"Like, do you know where he is?"

Another sad shake of Misty's head followed.

"Oh, don't give me that," Daisy tutted. "I've seen you buried in all those Sinnoh maps at the reception desk. You've, like, probably got a better idea of where he is than he does!"

Turning around slightly to face her sisters, the fragile redhead shrugged coyly. "Well…the last time I spoke to him, he was starting his training for the Sinnoh League, so I guess he could be at the pokémon centre near the stadium…"

"See? That's the spirit! Like, what are you waiting for?"

Although it seemed like her secret was out in the open already, Misty knew that agreeing to this phone call would basically confirm their suspicions, an idea that, unlike Ash, she was not too crazy about.

"No," she finally said. "It's a stupid idea. I'm just gonna go to bed."

"Oh, you're making that call," Daisy immediately answered. Her tone was firm, but there was a peculiar smirk on her face. "Because if you don't, then I just might have to go all  _preachy_  about my date with Tracey last night!"

Violet and Lily squealed excitedly, while Misty's eyes widened in terror. Never in her worst nightmares had she ever imagined any of her sisters becoming self-aware.

"Oh, it was, like, magical!" she began, looking at her little sister pointedly as she spoke. "Tracey's  _such_  a good boyfriend! He, like, pulled my chair out for me and took me for a walk by the sea after the meal. And aww, he kept, like, telling me how beautiful I was! It's the kind of thing people just, like,  _die_  to experience. Then again, only the  _perfect_  guy could fall for someone so  _truly_  Sensational-"

"Alright, alright, I'll do it!" Misty shouted, sighing with relief when it was finally over.

Daisy laughed triumphantly. "I knew you'd see it my way. Have fun!"

Misty looked at her sternly for a second before turning on her heel and pulling open the door that led downstairs to the gym's foyer. There was a videophone in the kitchen, but to ensure that their conversation didn't have an audience, she opted for the one at the front desk. Psyduck jumped off the sofa and waddled back over to her side.

Sitting down at the desk, she flipped through her phone book for the number of the Lily of the Valley pokémon centre. As she did so, the redhead caught a glimpse of her reflection in the videophone screen, and was greeted by a sudden flashback to her recent conversation. She reached up to her ponytail and gently pulled out the blue bobble, freeing her silky orange hair around her face and jawline. If Ash liked her hair down as much as her sisters claimed all those years ago, then surely he was long overdue for a reminder of such a feeling.

* * *

About 45 minutes later, a much happier Misty Waterflower burst back into the living room, where her smirking sisters had been eagerly awaiting her return.

"Ooh, look at her little loved-up face!" gushed Daisy, walking over to hug her.

"So, did you tell him?" asked Violet.

"Tell him what?" Misty played dumb, to which her blue-haired sister scowled.

"Dibs on maid of honour!" Lily called out.

"Hey, no fair!" Violet retorted in disgust.

Daisy turned back to Misty. "So…" she started, "I see you, like, decided to let your hair down after all. I bet his eyes were out on stalks, eh?"

She giggled. "I didn't do it because you told me to," she somewhat lied, "but, well, you know…thanks."

In spite of their faults, Misty loved her sisters, and, in her effervescent state, even felt bad about blowing up at them earlier tonight. As Daisy moved away from her, however, the young redhead looked over at the coffee table, her mouth falling open in disbelief.

Her two tubs of ice cream had been virtually licked clean, and, walking closer, the identities of the guilty-looking culprits became all too clear. The unsightly green and pink smudges around their smirking mouths told her everything she needed to know – so much for all that preaching.

"You people are unbelievable."


	12. Battleground

Battleground

The battleground.

To those who knew them well, the term was self-explanatory. Be it deep in the woods, down in a Team Rocket-patented hole, over the phone or even in separate rooms, the pokémon trainer and the gym leader knew how to start a fight anywhere. All it usually took was one obnoxious comment, one dirty sideways glance, and suddenly teeth were bared, fists were clenched, and eyes were afire as they primed themselves to attack. They both stood their ground like two towering bastions, the space between them a no-man's land that only the very brave or very foolish dared enter.

Brock was one such person, having coined the expression himself during his travels with the two warring teenagers. Until now, it was always meant in an affectionate way, a kind of exaggerated in-joke among their tight-knit group of friends. But today, in Delia Ketchum's once pristine garden, Ash and Misty had completely outdone themselves. Looking around, one would be forgiven for thinking that an actual battle had taken place here – and not of the pokémon variety.

"Oh…my…" gasped Delia as she stepped around to the back of her house to inspect the chaos. The sound of her shopping bag thudding down onto the grass alerted the three people wading through the debris, the younger two of which jumped slightly.

"Uh, h-hey, Mrs. Ketchum," the young teenage girl said shakily.

"W-We didn't think you'd be back so early," stuttered her bespectacled brother beside her.

The dazed woman smiled weakly at them, but turned straight to the oldest of the trio. "Brock…please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

As she expected, however, the tanned pokémon breeder simply sighed an all-too-familiar sigh. "I tried to break them up, but, well, they were really going at each other this time."

"I see," she spoke in a kind of lightheaded tone. "And are they…?"

"In the house." Brock nodded. "Misty shut herself in about twenty minutes ago and Ash stormed after her. We figured it'd be best to give them a while to cool down."

"Well, I guess that explains the note you left on the door for me," Delia chuckled humourlessly. She then took a few more steps into the ravaged garden, taking note of Pikachu and Mimey at the far end. The former was attempting to rake a pile of leaves with his tail, while the latter was sweeping away at anything and everything with his familiar dustpan and brush, smiling and chanting his name absentmindedly.

"D-Do you want us to leave?" said the bandana-clad girl timidly.

"Why, of course not, May, dear, this wasn't your f- oh, my petunias!" the 36-year-old's tone changed mid-sentence upon noticing the trampled flowerbed at her feet. "I just planted these! Oh, that boy of mine! If he wasn't travelling I'd have a good right to ground him for this!"

Though she had witnessed more of their fights than she could count, her son and his best friend were usually content to shout each other down until one or both of them succumbed out of sheer exhaustion. Rarely did their arguments actually become physical – and certainly not on this scale.

Brock looked down at his two nervous companions. "Don't worry, Mrs. Ketchum, I'll make sure Ash and Misty know what they've done. We'll clean all this up in the meantime though, right, guys?"

The two siblings nodded, and their somewhat coy demeanours caused Delia to giggle warmly.

"Thank you, dears!" she chirped, slipping a straw hat over her long, auburn hair. "Let me give you a hand."

Walking over to pick up the nearest broom, she returned briefly to her shopping bag.

"May, Max, would you like some cookies? I made some for Tracey and the professor this morning, but there's still plenty left over!"

May's face lit up immediately, and she practically snatched the treats away from the doting woman's hands.

"Would I ever!" she burbled through a mouthful of chocolate chips.

"Typical," snorted Max.

"Guess you don't want any then," she was quick to retort.

The younger boy grinned sheepishly. "Well, I didn't say that…"

While they busied themselves with their snacks, Brock and Delia moved into the centre of the grass, sweeping almost back-to-back in wide outward strokes towards the edges. The place truly was a mess: deep, muddy divots littered the area like a minefield, cracked and shattered flowerpots were spewing out soil and ceramic onto the freshly varnished back porch, and, of course, most of the plant life had been completely eviscerated. Notably (and perhaps alarmingly so), a lone conifer tree at the back of the garden stood virtually snapped in half, the drooping top part of its trunk held on only by a thin, fragile hinge of bark.

"I see now why you call it the battleground," Delia joked before turning serious again. "But my, was it this bad when you three travelled together?"

Brock shook his head, a few leaves falling out of his spiked hair as he did so. "Not even close," he admitted. "I've never seen one like this before."

"That's what I was afraid of," she sighed. "I always look forward to Ashy coming home, as any mother would. And Misty – oh, she's like the daughter I never had. She visits me nearly every week, you know, even with that huge gym to run. Such a kind-hearted girl."

She paused to take in a breath. "But when they're together like this…I mean, I know they're the best of friends deep down, but it really pains me to see them antagonising each other all the time. Do you think that they just-"

For the second time in as many minutes, Delia cut herself off, her hazel eyes fixed on a patch of scorch marks along her white picket fence. "Goodness me, how did that happen?!"

The high pitch of her voice attracted the attention of May, Max and Pikachu, all of whom ambled over to her.

"If I were to speculate based on what we just witnessed," began the ever-scholarly Max, "I'd say that Misty has finally mastered the ability to breathe fire."

"It certainly seemed that way by all the yelling she was doing," agreed May. "For a water-type gym leader, she's sure got a fiery temper!"

When Delia's expression remained unchanged, Brock chuckled and crossed his arms. "More likely it was Gyarados. Misty has a nasty habit of setting him on people when she's angry."

"Gyarados?!" she gasped. "So they  _were_  having a pokémon battle?"

"At first, yeah. But after a while they couldn't resist doing what they do best. A few snippy remarks here and there, and before we knew it, everything went pecha-shaped."

"Pika…" confirmed Pikachu, his yellow fur brushing against Delia's calf.

"Man, you should have seen them!" squealed a very sugared-up May, taking centre stage before her bemused audience.

"So we've all seen them battle before, right? Two parts flirting, one part battling? But jeez, those two were laying it on with a shovel today! All I could think was, 'someone knock their heads together already!'"

"I don't get it," muttered Max confusedly.

"But then Ash was like, 'see, Mist, told ya I'd win', and Misty was all, 'please, you just got lucky'…" she continued as she leapt between two adjacent spots on the grass, raising and lowering her voice for each respective imitation. All Brock and Delia could do was stand back and watch her go.

"…So she grabbed him by the collar and yelled something like, 'I could beat your ass any day, Ketchum!', and, erm…and…argh, what was it…oh yeah!" She squealed again. "Ash went as red as a pokéball, and I swear, their faces were so close that her forehead was bending his hat upwards!

"And THEN…!" May paused dramatically, still teeming with energy. "Then came the whole, 'Could not!', ' _Could too!_ ', 'Could not!', ' _Could too!_ ', 'Could not!', ' _Could too!_ ', 'Co-' ow!"

The pokémon coordinator's sugar-induced recount came to an end when Max reached upwards and yanked her over to the porch by her ear.

"Simmer down, May," he tutted impatiently.

With her brief one-woman show over, Brock and Delia resumed their lofty task of straightening up the devastation that surrounded them. Pikachu, who had just tripped over into a pile of charred foliage, was currently being dusted off by Mimey, the cloudy particles it kicked up causing Brock to let out a formidable sneeze.

"Bless you." Delia smiled, offering him a handkerchief. "But I'm afraid I'm still a tad confused. How could a simple argument escalate into all of this?"

After blowing his nose, the 22-year-old stood up straight and rested his hands atop his broom handle. "Well…" he sighed, "my guess is that emotions are running higher than usual, what with this being our last day in Pallet Town. To answer the question you were about to ask before: yes, they're going to miss each other a lot, and it really shows."

His gaze turned to the house, where he imagined his two closest friends to be continuing their feud. "I met them when they were both ten years old. On the outside, it seemed like they hated each other, but at the same time, there was this strange kind of 'closeness' between them, like they would always have each other's backs, even if they didn't realise it themselves."

"That's lovely," a much more sober May mused. "Seriously, when are those two going to just fess up to each other?"

Max's brow crinkled. "I still don't get it."

"I'll explain in a year or two," she giggled over her shoulder.

"It's always hard for them to say goodbye," Brock explained, having practically been a surrogate father to them during their journey. "They go a whole year without seeing each other, then suddenly they end up reuniting in two separate locations in the space of a fortnight: first when Ash came home from Hoenn, and then the other day during all that Mirage Mansion business. The poor guys just went through one painful farewell, and as soon as Tracey drops us all off outside Cerulean City tomorrow, they're going to have to do it all again."

While much of this had already crossed Delia's mind, hearing it out loud like this brought tears to her eyes. Ash and Misty thought the world of each other, but their individual paths would constantly keep them apart, and it was heartbreaking.

"Oh Brock," she murmured. "I wish they didn't have to take their sadness out on each other like this. Why can't they just be honest with themselves about how they feel?"

The pokémon breeder just smiled. "Because they're Ash and Misty."

His little comment caused May and Max to snigger knowingly. They may not have known either of the people in question for nearly as long as Brock, but it didn't take years of experience to understand the truth behind those words.

"Speaking of," he continued in a much lighter tone, "I'd say we've given them enough time to diffuse by now." Delia nodded as Pikachu scampered his way up to her shoulder.

"But, just in case," he added, "maybe I'd better, er, scout it out before everyone piles back inside."

Wearing a look that suggested both calmness and concern, Brock turned tail and disappeared quickly through the back door of the house. Barely a minute later, he emerged, holding his finger to his lips and making a beckoning motion with his other hand.

"Quick!" he whispered urgently.

With their curiosity piqued, Delia, Pikachu and the two siblings followed their secretive friend single file through the kitchen and into the living room of the Ketchum residence. The place was very much intact, to both Delia's surprise and relief. As soon as everyone was in, Brock pointed over at the sofa, from which a light breathing sound could be heard, and, at his instruction, they all tiptoed carefully around to the front to take a look. Delia's eyes widened, Pikachu's fur stood on end, Max's jaw dropped, and May had to clamp both of her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

Ash and Misty were in the house all right, but no-one could ever have imagined finding them like this. The two 17-year-olds, fresh from their epic pre-farewell altercation, were now fast asleep and huddled snugly together. Ash was pressed into the right side of the seat with his red cap covering his eyes, while Misty leant on him, her head resting on his shoulder, and were her bright orange ponytail not squashed up against his temple, the pair would practically be cheek-to-cheek.

"Gross," Max muttered.

"Shut up, you!" May hissed at him. "This is  _so_  adorable!"

Delia was just as elated. "Oh, my precious little babies!" she gushed. "This is going in the photo album for sure!"

From a nearby drawer, the excitable woman plucked a red digital camera and held it up to her face opposite the slumbering duo.

"Make sure you turn the flash off," Brock reminded her, not particularly keen on the idea of them waking up to see everyone gawking at them in their rather…intimate position.

She nodded, and with a small click later, Delia lowered the camera from her face and displayed the photo to all of the spectators.

"About time, huh?" May giggled.

"Cha!" agreed Pikachu.

"Mind if I have a copy of that photo, Mrs. Ketchum?" Brock asked, a small grin on his face.

"Of course, Brock!" she whispered back.

It was at this moment that they heard a light shuffling sound coming from the sofa. Misty had coiled her arm tighter around Ash's, and her mouth was hanging partially open as if she were about to speak.

"Brrrock…" came her airy, semi-conscious voice. "D'lete that nnnow…orrr I'll kill…"

Her eyes were shut tight, and the tapering off of her threat made it clear to the onlooking party that she was still asleep, but the ominous words still resonated with certain members of the group.

"I'd do what she says if I were you, Brock," Delia laughed. "If either of them find out you've got that picture, I fear you'll be faced with a battleground all of your own."

Of course, the rational side of Brock agreed with her wholeheartedly. But the mischievous side of him thought otherwise; the opportunity, after all, was far too tantalising to pass up. Misty need never know they were there to witness this tender moment, but he could blackmail Ash with this for  _years_  to come.


	13. Floor

Floor

"That one looks like a farfetch'd," observed eleven-year-old Ash Ketchum, a whimsical smile on his tanned face. "D'you see it?"

The young girl beside him lay flat on her beach towel with her sunglass-protected eyes to the sky. "Where?"

"Right there! And look, that little wispy bit next to it can be its leek!"

"I'm not seeing it," she said flatly.

Ash huffed. "Oh man, it's gone now! That was a good one too! Argh, fine, your turn."

Shooting him a smugly unapologetic look, she turned her attention back to the mass of blue and white above them.

"Eevee," she pointed out triumphantly a few seconds later.

"Again?" he asked, exasperated. "That's the fourth one! Misty, do you want an eevee or something?"

His sarcastic tone put the redhead straight into defence mode. "Why? Are you offering to catch me one, Mr. Pokémon Master?"

"Wha…? Um, well I…er…"

For a fleeting moment, the pokémon trainer was taken aback by his friend's retort, and the small splash of pink around his cheeks suggested that he was actually considering her equally sarcastic request. But just as he had seemingly formed a response, a lumpy but vaguely eevee-shaped cloud floated high above his head, shielding them briefly from the sweltering sun and causing him to grunt in annoyance.

"Told ya," Misty chirped as she poked him playfully in the side.

Ash said nothing, his arms crossing across his bare chest and his eyes darting from cloud to cloud. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find a single thing – how was she so good at this? Yet, a competition this remained, and giving up had never been part of the tenacious young boy's repertoire.

"Ditto!" he eventually shouted, his arm shooting upwards at a right angle to his body.

"Ash, every cloud looks like a ditto," she groaned. "No way does that count as a turn."

"It does too!" he countered in a woefully familiar fashion.

"Does not!" she bit back on instinct.

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does no-"

Contrary to the norm, Misty quickly stopped herself, and after a look of confusion from Ash that gradually turned to understanding, he too fell silent. This pattern had surfaced only a few days ago; in the wake of their tumultuous escapades on Shamouti Island, the desire to take it easy for a while afterwards was unspoken yet unanimous within their little group, a harmony reflected in the two preteens' efforts to rein in their petty squabbling. Misty liked to think that it was Ash's way of thanking her for saving his life (not that she'd told him, but she hoped he somehow knew anyway) – or maybe it was for another reason, one that, until earlier that week, she hadn't realised meant quite so much to her…

They smiled knowingly at each other before Ash sunk back down onto his towel in search of more cloud pokémon. Misty found herself staring a little longer, however, her eyes flicking between his unruly black hair, focused brown irises and the peculiar (but cute, though she'd never tell anyone that) zigzag marks on his cheeks. Returning to the warm, quiet beaches of Cleopatra Island after surviving an almost literal apocalypse had been a wise decision, she thought, especially if it meant spending quality time alone with her best friend.

"It's still an instant win if I find a pikachu, right?" Ash reminded her.

Jarred from her thoughts, the young girl let out a lethargic sigh. "Okay, I'm officially bored of this now. I think I'm just gonna get my book."

"Spoilsport," he muttered as she stood up beside him.

Misty turned her back to the sea, looking further up the beach to where their older friend, Tracey, was sitting with Pikachu and Togepi. She quickly spotted her red bag resting against a palm tree along with everyone else's, but just as her feet left her towel…

"Ooh! Ack! Ack! H-Hot!" she cried, leaping onto a nearby rock.

"Huh?" Ash looked over at his wincing friend. "What's the matter, Misty?"

"I burnt my feet on the sand!" she moaned rather childishly.

Something about this piqued the energetic Ash's interest, and in the space of a few seconds he had abandoned his cloud hunt and hopped over to a neighbouring rock, grinning from ear to ear.

"Aww, Mist, did you step on the hot lava?" he teased.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What? What lava?"

"Oh come on, tell me you've played 'the floor is lava' before!" Ash probed incredulously.

To his utter disbelief, she shook her head. "I'm a water-type trainer," she sassed. "I don't deal in lava."

Of course, the redhead's facetiousness completely passed him by. "Eh? No, no, it's just a game, where you…here, I'll show you."

Misty watched with a curious smirk on her face as her friend precariously jumped from rock to rock in front of her, looking at her expectantly when he had finished.

"Well, consider me learned!" she said, still with a note of sarcasm. "I think I'll go read now."

But, once again, the sand proved too hot for her to stand on, and she scooted back onto the rock as quickly as she had stepped off it.

"Oh yeah, you've learned alright," Ash grinned. "Come on, Misty, it'll be fun! And hey, the pokémon can play too!"

Stepping back over to his towel, the pokémon trainer reached for his belt and carefully detached each of the small red and white spheres.

"I choose everyone!"

A few flashes of light later, there stood his faithful pokémon party: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard and…

"Waaah!" Ash cried as the sand began to sink around them. "Er, sorry, Snorlax, you better sit this one out."

He returned the gluttonous Sleeping Pokémon to its pokéball, whereupon Misty decided to let out her own land-faring pokémon, Staryu and Psyduck.

"You playing, Tracey?" Ash called up to their mild-mannered friend. The pokémon watcher was so engrossed in his sketchpad that he appeared not to notice.

"Tracey, quick, you're sitting in the lava!" he laughed. Again, no answer.

"Well, he's dead." Ash removed his cap in mock sorrow, to which Misty giggled heartily. "You'll play with us though, won't you, buddy?"

Fortunately, the buddy in question's hearing was many times stronger than that of his human friend, and with a faraway cry of "Pika!", the agile yellow mouse quickly scurried over to his master. Ash and Misty then retook their places on the rocks and turned to their pokémon.

"You guys in too?" Ash addressed the small crowd. The pokémon immediately assented in their own unique ways:

"Saur!"

"Hyaa!"

"Groooaar!"

"Just follow our lead, okay?" he continued, pointing down to the fluffy white sand. "Anywhere but the sand – er, the lava – is safe. One touch, though, and you're out!"

Misty couldn't help but smile at her best friend's infectious vitality. Given the right setting, that boy could read from the phone book and make it seem like the most exciting thing he'd ever done.

"Okay, troupe…" She watched him point exaggeratedly in front of him. "Onward!"

The air was filled with a myriad of excited cries as the simple but energetic game began to take shape. As luck would have it, the group had chosen a particularly rocky part of the beach to settle down on, making for quite the selection of objects to stand on. Ash sprung across the natural obstacle course with impressive athleticism, while the more cautious Misty followed closely behind, surprised by how much she was enjoying their little impromptu activity.

"That's it, Pikachu!" Ash affirmed gleefully. Misty giggled every time their pika-pal let out an endearing "Pi!" with each rock he landed on. She then turned to observe the rest of the pokémon, who were all using their individual skills to traverse the make-believe lava lake. Staryu used its five pointy appendages to flip daintily from surface to surface, Squirtle withdrew into his shell whenever he was close to falling, and Bulbasaur used his strong vines to swing himself across the beach. Apparently the former was more cunning than its inscrutable features implied, however, as it soon levitated straight over to the water and swam effortlessly into the lead.

"What the…" Ash began, both shocked and infuriated. "Hey, that's cheating! I never said you could go in the water!"

A few rocks away, Misty laughed somewhat evilly. "I believe you said anywhere but the sand is safe, Ketchum! Clearly you underestimate how well I train my pokémon!"

"Hyaa!" agreed the intelligent Star Shape Pokémon from the water's edge.

"Oh yeah?" he snarled back at her. "Well, I can see all that training's done wonders for Psyduck over there!"

Before she even looked round, the groaning redhead could imagine exactly what her friend was referring to. Inevitably, her dopey yellow duck had completely missed the point of the game, and was currently digging away at a hole in the sand that obscured him up to the waist.

"Psyduck!" she bellowed. "Stop digging! You're not supposed to be touching the sand!"

To no-one's surprise, the poor pokémon misinterpreted this also, placing his stubby hands behind his back and continuing to dig with his wide bill.

"No, that's not what I meant!" she tried again, her face glowing red.

"Psy?" he questioned with a mound of sand sitting in the curve of his beak.

"Ugh, forget it," she relented, instead jumping onto another large rock in her path. Ash grinned at her smugly, and she could only hope he knew how lucky he was that he was out of punching range. But as quickly as that thought appeared, a sight out of the corner of her eye presented her with a much more satisfying revenge tactic.

"Hey, Ash," she called to him in a sickly sweet voice, "before you have another jab at my training methods, you might wanna take a look over there."

"Huh?"

The young boy's head swivelled in the direction Misty was pointing in, and his mouth fell open so wide that his dropping jaw almost ensured him a premature game over.

"Charizard, what are you doing?" Ash asked in total bewilderment. The haughty draconic pokémon, who was simply walking along the bare sand without any regard for his master's 'rules', stopped to give a wry smile before nonchalantly carrying on.

"Hey, I thought you were listening to me now!" the pokémon trainer pleaded. "You can't walk in the lava like that, you're gonna…ohhhh…"

But then he remembered. His charizard was no stranger to lava, having plunged headfirst into an active volcano during a gym battle less than a year ago. He sighed irritably. Had he known the mechanics of this simple game could be exploited in so many ways, he'd never have suggested playing the wretched thing at all.

"Oh, very clever," he acknowledged cynically. "Anyone else got any dirty tricks up their sleeves?"

His question was clearly rhetorical, but the remaining competitors all shook their heads anyway. Even Misty, who had been enjoying seeing her best friend get so flustered by their pokémon's ceaseless logic, decided to humour him.

"Squirtle!" remarked the little blue turtle as he bounded onto a rock near the sea. It was only a medium-sized jump away, and despite the answer he gave his trainer only seconds ago, he'd be a fool not to take a leaf out of Staryu's book right now. Crouching down, he braced himself before vaulting high up into the air and…

CRUNCH!

"Ouch! Better luck next time, Squirtle!" Misty smiled down at the Squirtle-shaped hole in the sand. After surfacing, the embarrassed pokémon disappeared quickly into his shell, muttering to himself bitterly.

"You know, I think the pokémon are on to something." She turned back to Ash. "I reckon I could make that jump, eh, Ash?"

She was teasing him – he'd recognise that maddening 'sweet girl' act a mile away. It was bad enough that half of his pokémon had already outsmarted him at his own game; there was no way he was going to let Misty do it too.

"Oh no you don't!" he shouted as he saw her eyeing the gap between her rock and the water. In a desperate move, he performed a huge leap over a number of smaller rocks, landing on the very edge of his friend's and teetering dangerously next to her.

"Whoa!" Misty yelped in shock. "Watch out!"

Instinctively, she circled her arms around the boy's waist just before he fell backwards onto the sand and pulled him up to her small perch on the rock.

"Ash, what are you playing a-a-ahhh…"

That was when it dawned on her just how close together they were, and her face immediately turned as red as her bikini. Their bodies were practically flush against each other, to the point where she could feel his heart beating on her ribcage. Her arms were still around him, and although she would usually have retracted them at the earliest possible second, there was a pleasant kind of warmth radiating from him that sent a shiver all the way down her slender body. But no, she couldn't think like that. Her feelings aside, she and Ash were best friends, and nothing more. Besides, she knew he wouldn't understand the taboo nature of their current position even if she spelled it out for him, something that his vacant expression was quick to confirm.

Still, it was surprising that he had not yet made a move to break free, she thought. Ignoring the fluttering in her chest, she decided to save him the trouble.

"Get your own rock!" Misty barked, releasing her hold on him and sending him toppling backwards once again.

"Waaaaah!" he cried, his arms flailing as he fell. Just before he met his molten fate, however, two long vines latched onto each of the boy's arms, lifting him up into the air and placing him down on a nearby patch of grass.

"Bulba!" hollered Bulbasaur several feet behind the duo. His stout body was angled forward on his rock, and beneath his wide smile it was clear he was struggling with the weight of his trainer. The relief of letting go of Ash proved too little too late, and before anyone could react, the gallant starter pokémon slipped pitifully down into the soft pile of sand at his feet.

"Th-Thanks, Bulbasaur," Ash stuttered, then scratched his head bashfully. "And, um, sorry. Hehe…"

Ever the stoic, Bulbasaur took his involuntary elimination in the best of spirits.

"What say we make this more interesting, huh, Pikachu?" the pokémon trainer piped up soon after.

"Cha!" Pikachu squeaked his approval.

Ash pointed over to a dense cluster of foliage at the end of the beach. "Last one to that big palm tree is a rotten exeggcute!"

And then he was off, skipping between stick, stone and stump without so much as a backwards glance at his opponents. Misty, still recovering from her recent 'encounter' with Ash, did not notice straight away, but once she was back to her old half-caring, half-cantankerous self, the young girl made haste to catch up with him.

"Ash, be careful, you're going too fast!" she warned him.

"No I'm not, you're not going fast enough!" he quipped back. "You're gonna have to do better than that, Mist!"

Growling under her breath, Misty quickened her pace in order to close the gap between them. Pikachu had lost his balance and fallen some moments ago, but bizarrely, neither of the two preteens seemed to have noticed. As any relative, old friend or random passerby would have been quick to point out, the pair truly only had eyes for each other.

It was then that Misty spotted something unusual in Ash's path: a small, blue blob, unidentifiable to most people from that distance, but the water-loving gym leader had an affinity for such entities, and her widening eyes were drawn to it almost instantly.

"Ash, look out for that tentacool!" she shrieked in alarm.

"What tentacool? I don't see anythi- AAYYYYEEEE!"

What the boy had mistaken for a weirdly miscoloured stone was actually a beached tentacool, its tentacles curled up out of sight underneath its gelatinous, bell-shaped body. Being trodden on hadn't fazed it as much as one would think, but it had certainly noticed the presence of the human whimpering meekly on the sand beside it.

"Ash!" Misty cried out. Discarding her sunglasses, she made her way swiftly over to her friend, stopping only to inspect the tentacool next to him. Its eyes were bloodshot and its outer membrane lacked the oily coating it usually had, leading her to believe it had been stranded out in the sun for quite some time.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack," she commanded softly. The electric rodent nodded, and, seconds later, the dehydrated pokémon had been safely delivered back into the waters from which it came.

Misty then turned back to Ash, kneeling down before him on a fairly flat, wide stone. Helping her best friend was her new priority, that went without saying, but there would be no sense in forfeiting the game while she was at it.

"Owowow…" he moaned, clutching his seething left foot.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," she tutted as she bent down to take a look.

"But it hurts!" he whined.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you stand on a poison-type pokémon. See where not listening to me gets you?"

Ash's lip quivered. "P-Poison? Am I gonna d-die?"

The redhead rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling to herself all the same. Ash's innocence, albeit infuriating, was often unbearably cute.

"Well, luckily for you, tentacool stings aren't poisonous to humans. Of course you'd know that if you actually read your pokédex entries instead of just looking at the pictures, Mr. Pokémon Master!"

She shot him a 'don't deny it' kind of look just as he was about to refute her insinuation, which seemingly did the trick, as he remained uncharacteristically silent.

"Still, don't go passing out on me, you hear?" she smirked, noticing the hint of red on his face.

As she wracked her brain for potential remedies, a much-rumoured 'solution' occurred to her, one that she thought she had better stamp out as early as humanly possible.

"Before you suggest it," she began, her voice stern but slightly wavy, "I am NOT going to pee on you."

Sure enough, that brought the grin right back onto his face. "Misty, even I know that's just a myth," he laughed, though the very thought of it made him shiver.

"Well good," she snapped before mellowing out again. "Now I'm sure I've heard something about acids counteracting tentacool toxins before…ooh, Pikachu, can you and Bulbasaur please bring my bag down to me?"

The two pokémon obediently raced up the hill, returning mere seconds later with Misty's drawstring bag between their teeth. She rooted around its deceptively spacious compartments for a while, eventually pulling out a bottle of vinegar and a small box of cotton buds.

"Okay, this is probably gonna sting like crazy," she sighed, dipping a cotton bud into the bottle and inching it towards Ash's faintly swollen foot.

"Are you sure this is going to- OWWEEEE!" his reply succinctly confirmed.

"I did warn you," she shrugged.

"Well yeah, but I didn't think- OOH, OW, EASY!"

Little by little, the painful sensation died away, and Ash's complaining along with it. In fact, once he got used to it, he realised he quite enjoyed the strange tickling feeling of the damp bud against his tender sole. As the process went on, however, the young boy felt himself paying less attention to his injury and more to the person tending to it. Misty was rarely this nice to him – at least, not without an ulterior motive – and the care with which she was looking after him now was flattering in a novel sort of way. But that wasn't all. There was something about her focused gaze, the fiery glow of her hair in the sunlight, the subtle pinkness of her pale skin, that captivated him in a way it never had before. Sure, there were times when his friend had appeared as something other than a grouchy tomboy, but this was different. Perhaps it was the toxins talking, but here Misty wasn't just 'alright' or 'kinda cute' like she had been in the past; here she was downright pretty, and that thought both excited and horrified him.

"What am I going to do with you, Ash Ketchum?" her mumbling snapped him from his musings. "Next thing we know, you'll probably end up getting stuck in a vileplume's head or something!"

Ash snorted. "Oh please, I'm not  _that_  stupid."

A short moment of silence followed, during which Misty applied a soft dressing to Ash's much less inflamed tentacool sting. The pokémon trainer watched her silently for a while, but was soon compelled to start up another conversation.

"Misty?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you didn't catch that tentacool?"

She looked up. "What?"

"I was just thinking: you've always said how much you like tentacool, right? And that one would've been such an easy catch, but you came straight to me instead. Why would you do that?"

"It wanted to go back in the water, so I saw to it that it did." She appeared relaxed, but the wringing of her hands seemed to conflict with her tone of voice. "And b-besides," she added, showing more of her true colours, "I wasn't just going to prance around catching pokémon while my friend was in pain, was I? You may be a total idiot, but you're a lot more important to me than a plain old tentacool."

There was her voice. It wasn't often that she expressed such things as unambiguously as that, but at times like these it was all that felt right to say in the moment. Ash's heart pounded in his chest, and a semi-involuntary smile crept onto his flushed face.

"I, er…thanks, Misty."

She smiled back at him in acknowledgement, a smile that slowly turned into a sceptical grin. "You sure you're feeling alright, Ash?" she asked him. "You look like you're burning up."

Ash knew she must have been referring to his scarlet face, yet her eerily fitting choice of words supplied the typically slow-witted boy with the most perfect response he could have hoped for:

"Well, I am in the lava, after all. What's your excuse?"

Were Misty's face not red enough already, Ash's devious comeback instantly caused it to turn three shades darker. No way had something that golden just come out of his mouth. Realising she had absolutely no idea how to answer that question, the gobsmacked young girl simply stood up and made a beeline for the sea, growling audibly with every step she took.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ash chuckled, staggering to his feet and limping after his disgruntled friend.

Further up the sand-covered hill, a grinning Tracey Sketchit hummed to himself as he added the finishing touches to his latest sketch.

"That should do it," he decided, carefully ripping the drawing out of the pad. "What do you think, Togepi?"

"Priii!" squealed the baby egg pokémon next to him.

The pokémon watcher glanced back over at his two younger friends swimming and splashing each other playfully.

"One minute they're jumping over lava; the next, they're playing in the water. Those two sure are quite a pair, eh?"

"Toke," Togepi agreed.

Tracey observed his drawing one last time before rolling it up into a scroll and walking over to where the bags were resting. Making sure they weren't looking, he neatly tucked the paper into the side pocket of Ash's backpack, nodding to himself as if to re-justify his actions. He then produced a second, similar drawing from his pocket only to discover that Misty's bag was not there.

For the briefest of moments, he considered sneaking down to the water's edge and discretely slipping the sketch into her bag when their heads were turned. But then he remembered Misty had a mallet, and a wicked temper to match, and should she take his good-hearted gift the wrong way, as he expected she would, he was willing to bet that her version of 'the floor is lava' would be decidedly more literal than the one he had just witnessed.

"On second thought, I think I'll just hang on to this one…"


	14. Landowner

Landowner

It was huge, far bigger than the plans and preliminary sketches had ever made it seem. The flattened square of earth stretched out for what seemed like miles in every direction, its patches of green amongst the predominant browns and greys serving as a bittersweet reminder of the lush, arborous wilderness it had once been. And the gym itself, now covered from top to bottom in scaffolding, stood in the middle of it all like a tiny, isolated island, a mere obstacle in the path of the colossal glass fortress that was to replace it.

With the emergence of mega evolution and something from a far-off region called Dynamax, the Pokémon League had recently ordered a fundamental overhaul of its gyms in order to accommodate the larger and more destructive battles that resulted from these incredible abilities. From Kanto all the way to Unova, every gym leader's base of operations was doomed to this fate at some point, but for 22-year-old Misty Waterflower, this thought provided little in the way of comfort at all.

The day of her return to Cerulean City, seven years ago exactly, had been the worst day of her life. For the longest time she resented the cursed place and everyone in it for tearing her away from her adventures, her dreams, her freedom. Inevitably, though, the gym eventually became a part of her, and she a part of it, and seeing it now in such a sorry state was almost too much to bear.

From her position at the end of the path, the young woman stood with her back to the streets, eyes locked forward in a glassy, half-lidded trance. Even with her head turned completely to the sides, she couldn't see all the way to the edges of the area. Was it right for a single family to own this much land? Then again, she remembered, the Pokémon League had ordered this, not them, and she had to wonder whether they were ever really the landowners to begin with. Her sisters were nothing but ecstatic at the idea of a larger gym, as she knew they would be, but they weren't nostalgic like she was, didn't ruminate and reflect on things as she did. It wasn't just a gym to her, it was her home, and no amount of shiny glass or high-tech equipment would ever be able to replace that.

As she began to amble in a clockwise direction around the perimeter of the plot, Misty allowed her mind to flow right back to where it had been for most of the past two weeks: her days travelling the world, her nights staring up at the stars, the pokémon she'd caught, the friends she'd made – and, of course, the one who'd started it all…

In the distance, she could see Mt. Moon towering high into the ochre evening sky. The cave at its base was a popular travel route, one she used regularly on her visits to Pallet Town. More than that, though, it was a place of memories, of old friends, of chapters in her life she could never go back to. On the outside, it was nothing but rocks and darkness; the latter she wasn't overly keen on, but the former would always remind her of a certain someone, one narrow-eyed, girl-obsessed man who practically lived and breathed the stuff.

She stopped when she reached the northeast corner of the square, and before she even realised it, she had whipped out her pokégear and dialled a number.

_Ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…_

"Hello?"

The sound brought a weak smile to her face. "Hey, Brock, it's me."

"Hey, Misty!" her old friend greeted cheerfully. "I haven't heard from you in ages! How is everything?"

"Er, yeah, fine," she lied. "I just called to check in, I guess."

"Well, I'm glad you did," he said with a timbre that suggested he was smiling. "I meant to stop by the gym a while back, but I kinda lost track of time."

"Oh, th-that's okay," Misty pardoned, then quickly redirected the conversation. "How's the pokémon doctor training going?"

"It's going great! I've actually just finished for the day. You know, I wasn't sure about studying in Johto at first, but the facilities here are state-of-the-art, and, more importantly, I get to work with Nurse Joy! Can you believe it?"

"Don't make me come all the way there just to drag you away from her, now," she half-giggled, half-sighed.

Brock's soft chuckle came out slightly distorted through her pokégear's small speaker. "Ehehehe…anyway, Forrest told me your gym is the next one in Kanto scheduled for a remodelling. Have they started it yet?"

"Oh, er…" she mumbled dejectedly. Whatever her reason for calling Brock out of the blue was, it certainly wasn't to talk about this. "Yeah, they have."

"Ah, awesome!" he continued to her chagrin. "They renovated the Pewter City one just after I came back from Sinnoh. It's way bigger now, but thankfully they didn't mess too much with my dad's original layout. Let's hope they do the same with yours, eh?"

Misty covered her hand with her mouth to mask the sigh of disappointment she was unable to hold in. "Y-Yeah," she said in the least shaky voice she could manage. "Let's hope…"

"Misty? Are you okay?" he queried, his tone now completely serious.

The sincerity of his question startled her at first, but in all honesty, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised. Brock was one of her best friends, and to presume that she could hide her despondency from him, even over the phone, was pitifully naïve. Even so, the redhead was not the most open of books when it came to things like this. She bit her lip as she tried to form some sort of response in her head.

"Hello? Misty? You still there?"

"Oh, erm, yeah I'm here…sorry," she stuttered, taking in a large breath. "It's nothing. I'm fine, really."

The doctor-in-training knew from experience not to push his temperamental friend, despite her last statement not having convinced him in the slightest.

"Well, okay then," he said gently, just as something else crossed his mind. "But I have to ask: what made you want to call me without warning in the middle of the week? Is this about A-"

"NO!" Misty shouted down the receiver, her pale cheeks blazing with heat. The other end went silent immediately, and she guiltily tried to shake off her sudden wave of emotion. "I mean, er, it's not, um, th-that is, I…ugh. Sorry, Brock, I guess it's just been kind of a stressful day. Thanks for the talk."

Before Brock could reply, she closed her hand around the small device, snapping the lid shut and bringing the call to an abrupt end. Of course she'd call again to apologise, later in the week when there was less going on, but right now she wasn't thinking straight. To her shame, all of this seemed to really be getting to her, and she feared she knew exactly why – but that was absolutely not a feeling she wanted to indulge today.

Her gaze shifted away from Mt. Moon as she turned right and began the slow walk along the east edge of the plot. The architects had told her that the new gym would be over a mile in circumference, a size that she could barely conceive of until she found herself walking that very path some weeks later. As she understood it, the ground beneath her was also to become a decorative pool encircling the entire building – a moat, as she had compared it to in her cynicism. Not the best way to convince trainers that they were welcome at the gym, she thought; and besides, keeping people out was the last thing she wanted to do at this time…

The thought of water caused her to look straight ahead, at the small pond behind the gym where most of her pokémon were playing. It was quite a distance away, but as she squinted her eyes she could make out a few of the familiar shapes: the towering Gyarados, the playful Politoed, the radiant Starmie, and, lastly, her simpleminded Psyduck wading around in his life ring. Despite everything on her mind, the sight brought a peaceful smile to her lips. For Misty, water represented everything that was beautiful in the world. It was excitement, artfulness, passion, creativity – and she certainly knew someone who ticked a few of those boxes.

Just like before, she stopped on the corner and instinctively reached for her pokégear.

_Ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ring…_

After numerous rings, the call went to voicemail, and, true to her stubborn nature, she immediately tried again.

_Ring, ring…ring, ring…ring, ri-_

"H-Hello?" came a decidedly shaky voice.

Misty raised an eyebrow, but proceeded to carry on as normal. "Hey, Tracey, it's Misty. How's it going?"

"M-Misty? Oh, h-hey there!" Tracey chuckled somewhat oddly. "Erm, fine, th-thanks, hehe…h-how are you?"

"I'm good," she stated distractedly. "Just, er…taking a walk."

"Oh, that's g-great!" the pokémon watcher affirmed a little too zealously. "I'll be there to h-help out again tomorrow, just l-like I promised!"

Misty nodded to herself in understanding. Tracey was well aware of the construction work, having helped out with it considerably in recent months. However, that Tracey almost seemed like a different person to the one she was talking to presently.

"Tracey, are you feeling alright?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Me? Oh y-yeah, n-never better! Hey, um, listen, Misty, th-this isn't the best t-time…"

A sudden rustling sound coming from his end forced Misty to hold her pokégear slightly away from her ear. Amongst the crackling and sputtering of the speaker, she vaguely made out the words, "For Mew's sake, just put me on!" before the noise gave way to the sound of light, high-pitched breathing.

"Misty, what did I, like, tell you about calling me when I'm on a date?"

"Daisy?" she spoke in surprise. "What are you…?"

"I  _told_ you about this!" her older sister whined through gritted teeth. "You know, my date with Tracey, the one in, like, Vermilion City for our three-month anniversary, that I wouldn't be coming back from until  _the morning after_ …?"

Misty's free hand shot instantly to her mouth, both to conceal her gasp of realisation and push back the stream of vomit she felt very close to unleashing. "Ohhhh god…"

"It's n-not what it sounds like!" Tracey persisted in the background.

"It totally is," Daisy whispered devilishly, having seemingly shed her fleeting anger.

"I don't want to know!" Misty cut her off. "I forgot, sorry. I'm hanging up now."

"Oh no you don't!" the elder Waterflower sister cried, her tone now one of playful impatience. "Like, what's going on? You never forget about anything, especially when it's about my love life!"

Scowling, Misty huffed audibly into the receiver. Ever since getting married, Daisy had, paradoxically, become a lot more outwardly focused, and thus had being paying close attention to her younger sister's recent decline in mood. Misty was well aware of this, but her words escaped her in that very moment, and the silence gave her interrogator all the information she needed.

"Wait, don't tell me you're, like, wandering around that filthy old construction site again," Daisy sighed.

Misty rolled her eyes. "So what if I am?" she snapped.

"Oh Misty, why's this, like, such a big deal to you? We're getting an awesome new house with, like, a zillion rooms and a totally gorgeous new pool, all for free! What's not to like?"

"Daisy's got a point, Misty," a much calmer Tracey concurred. "I know you're sad about your old gym, but you can't deny that this new one is going to draw in new trainers by the boatload!"

"It's not about that!" Misty spat entirely without thinking, after which her hand clapped straight over her widening eyes. As if either of them needed any more encouraging – and yet, there it was.

She half-expected Tracey to be the one to comment first, but was surprised to hear it never came. Perhaps he knew better this time. Daisy, however, for all of her newfound altruism, hadn't changed  _quite_  that much.

"Ooh!" squealed Daisy. "I knew it! Didn't I say it was that, honey?"

"Er, y-yeah, I think so," Tracey faltered, clearly not wanting to get involved.

"Mist, you can't just, like, mope around like this because you're lonely, you know? Let yourself enjoy life once in a while!"

"Don't call me that," the blushing redhead snarled, to which Daisy just giggled.

"Hey, we called you it first! Like, I know you love him but you can't give him credit for that too!"

Misty's pokégear creaked alarmingly in her white-knuckled grip.

"That's it!" she eventually yelled. "I don't have to stand here and listen to this! Enjoy your stupid date!"

Once again, the upset girl snapped her device shut and stuffed it as far down into the pocket of her jean shorts as it would go. These spontaneous conversations were not having the effect she hoped they would; in fact, all she seemed to be doing was making enemies out of both her friends and family. That was always how it had gone. Whenever she felt like this, her first instinct was to push people away, and she hated it. After another minute, she continued her walk over to the southwest corner, each step gradually feeling heavier and heavier.

First Brock, and now Tracey and Daisy. How did they all jump to the same conclusion? Her home was being destroyed; it should have been obvious why she wasn't feeling herself, and yet none of them could resist digging deeper, teasing out her sorest of wounds like it was some sort of game. But then, who was she kidding? They were, after all, completely right. And when she glanced over at said home in the middle of the barren land, its once iconic dewgong front piece shrouded by a thick tarpaulin, lonely was, indeed, the only word to describe it. The seclusion, the obsoleteness: a cruel but fitting metaphor for how she was feeling. How could she possibly have expected it not to dredge up everything else at the same time?

The young woman's slightly teary eyes were now fixed forward on a row of shops further up the street. In particular, it was the nearest one's beautifully nurtured flowerbed that caught her attention. The array of colours was spellbinding, and the subtle sea breeze that flowed through the Cerulean coastline fanned the petals in a way that made each different colour shine over at her individually: a veritable wave of nature, the likes of which she had only seen before from one other source. It was one of her favourite places in the world, and the landowner one of her dearest friends, someone she knew she could always turn to at times like these. Why she had waited this long, in fact, was beyond her.

She knew the drill by now. The corner was reached, the device was unearthed, and the number was dialled. She didn't even have to think about it.

_Ring, ring…ri-_

"Ketchum residence, Delia speaking!"

The woman's soft voice made Misty feel more relaxed straight away. "Uh, hi, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Misty?" she said, her chirpiness replaced by concern. "Dear, whatever's the matter?"

Misty was both astonished and appreciative. Three words were all it took for her good friend to tell that something was up.

"Um, well…" she began, tugging at her side ponytail, "I'm just at the building site for the new gym, and…"

"Oh yes, of course, I remember you saying that was why you couldn't come to visit this weekend," Delia explained. "Sorry, go on."

"And, er, it's kinda…big, you know?" She knew she was being evasive, but did not want to just offload all of her pain onto the older woman in one go, especially given that Delia was no stranger to loneliness herself.

"Big? But surely that's a good thing, isn't it?" Delia inquired. "Why, I bet your gym is going to be the jewel of Cerulean City when it's finished!"

"Yeah, that's what Tracey said," Misty glumly stated. "But it's just…er, I mean, I don't…argh, it sounds stupid, but…"

The distressed girl's stammering transitioned into a momentary silence, broken promptly by Delia with a sympathetic sigh.

"I think I understand," she said gently. "You liked your gym just the way it was, and now you're worrying that this new gym won't feel the same; is that right?"

Tears pooled at the corners of Misty's eyes, all but one of which she was able to blink back. It rolled down her smooth cheek and dripped gracefully off her chin, leaving a pinprick of damp on the earth at her feet.

"I…" she attempted to reply, but her meek voice was snuffed out by her sadness.

"Oh Misty, please don't cry," Delia pleaded. "I know how much the gym meant to you, but at the end of the day, dear, it was just a building. What made it special were all the memories you made there: all the challengers you defeated, all the amazing water shows you performed in, your relationships with your pokémon, your sisters, your friends…and those are the things that will live on, as long as you always hold them close. It'll take time, but the new gym will eventually start to feel like a home again, I promise you. And hey, who knows, maybe you'll make even more great memories to cherish!"

Despite her troubled disposition, Misty attentively took in every word the benevolent woman afforded her. As difficult as it was for her to appreciate in her current state, she knew Delia was absolutely right, like she always was.

"I…I guess," the young girl admitted, biting her lip timidly, "but, erm, that's not all…"

"Oh, I know, dear," Delia said mirthfully.

"Y-You do?"

She giggled. "I know you better than you think, young lady. It's not too hard to imagine that your sadness about the gym has made you think about…other things as well. I completely understand."

And understand she did, for Misty had revealed that particular grievance to her during a similar period of stress several years ago. She was the only one who knew for sure, even if virtually everyone else tirelessly made reference to it. Still, Misty was surprised by how quickly she had been sussed out this time.

"I…don't know what to say…" she murmured sheepishly.

"And you don't have to," Delia assured her. "Not to me, at least. But I think maybe you should give him a call."

Misty's face flushed crimson. "Really? But why…I mean, er, how?"

"He called me from the pokémon centre this afternoon, and told me he was staying there tonight. I can give you the number if you'd like; do you have a pen and paper?"

Hastily, Misty knelt down on the ground and scrawled the recited numbers into the soil with her finger.

"Now go on, you have yourself a lovely long talk with your best friend," Delia sung through the speaker. "And tell him his mom says hi!"

"I will," the redhead chuckled as she stood back up. "I…thank you, Mrs. Ketchum. For everything."

"My pleasure, Misty. And it's Delia, remember?"

"Hehehe, oops…" she laughed guiltily.

"I'll try and come up to Cerulean City next week to see how you're doing, okay? Take care, sweetie!"

A moment later, the line went dead, leaving Misty with nothing but a generic staticky sound in her right ear. For a number of minutes its monotonous whirring resonated unceasingly against her skin, but the dazed girl hardly noticed, too preoccupied with her racing thoughts of the potential conversation she had yet to come.

Of her three phone calls so far, Delia Ketchum's had been the only one to make her feel even remotely better, something she couldn't have been more grateful for after such a lonely and stressful day. Her excessive pokégear usage was undoubtedly costing her a fortune, a problem that the gym's videophones would have alleviated were they not locked away in storage, but as she told herself once this 'activity' had started, if that was the price she had to pay for some much needed peace of mind, then so be it.

As it turned out, the journey over to the last corner was a lot less arduous than the others had been, and Misty was surprised to find that there was now even a slight spring in her step. Directly in her field of view was the open road, mostly deserted and stretching out so far into the distance that its vanishing point appeared to touch the verdant countryside leading to Saffron City. It was the epitome of freedom, of adventure, feelings she had readily experienced during her travels all those years ago. Though she missed it terribly, she knew that her place was here, at what used to be the Cerulean gym. Her best friend, on the other hand, was adventure incarnate, the embodiment of boundless exploration, so how could such a sight not forever remind her of him?

The number on the ground she had already committed to her memory, and she transferred it onto her pokégear's keypad without a second's vacillation.

_Ring, ring…ring, ring…_

"Wiggly?"

Misty's brow furrowed in confusion. "Oh, hey, uhh…Wigglytuff?"

"Tuff!" the Balloon Pokémon proudly confirmed.

"Do you maybe, um, have an Ash Ketchum staying at this centre?"

"Wiggly…" it murmured for a few seconds before a shrill cry of "Wiggly tuff!" ushered in a sudden and awkward quietness. Misty considered hanging up, assuming the connection was faulty or something, until a mixture of groaning and crumpling caused her ears to prick up once again.

"Urrgghm…mhrello?"

Her heart ignited in her chest. His voice was much deeper than she had last heard it, but the boyish tinge he was never able to grow out of was still very much there. Redness washed over her face like the glare of a gengar, making her very thankful in that moment that neither one of them could see the other.

"Hi, Ash," she said somewhat coyly.

"M-Misty?" he slurred, all of a sudden sounding more coherent. "Hey!"

"Is everything okay?" Misty asked.

A large yawn escaped from the young man's lungs. "Well, aside from being literally dragged out of bed by Nurse Joy's wigglytuff at four in the morning, everything's great."

"Oh! Sorry, I, I didn't know you were…" she attempted to clear up, but Ash just let out a chuckle.

"It's alright, Mist, I always forget about the time zones too. And I'm wide awake now anyways!"

Misty blushed an even deeper shade of red. Now  _that_  was how she liked hearing her nickname.

"So how's everything going in Kalos?" she said amicably.

"Oh it's great! I've already seen so many new pokémon, and everything looks so fancy here, and…"

Though genuinely engrossed in his monologue, Misty also couldn't help but imagine how her best friend looked at such an ungodly hour of the morning. His black hair was likely more unmanageable than usual, and his deep hazel eyes must have been threatening to close at any minute. It was a look she remembered fondly from their travelling days – mainly because it was funny, but also because…

"But hey, enough about me, how are you doing?"

Thankful that Ash had saved her from more mindless wallowing, but groaning inwardly at the conversation being turned on her again, the redhead simply decided to try powering through it this time.

"I'm fine," she said plainly.

"That's it? What about the gym? Won any battles lately?"

She sighed under her breath. "Actually," she forced herself to say, "the gym is being knocked down and rebuilt. They're starting to lay the foundations for it next week."

Ash gasped straight into the phone. "Oh wow, that's so cool, Misty! Is it going to be bigger than the last one?"

"Yeah. Four times the size, apparently."

"Four times?! Man, I can't believe you get to live somewhere like that!"

"Hmph. Just means four times the cleaning, four times the work, four times the stress…" she deadpanned, unable to stop herself.

"Well, er, sure, but think of how awesome it'll be to battle in there!" Ash persisted in his trademark optimistic manner. "How long is it going to take to build?"

"Two years," Misty stated.

"Two years? Hey, awesome, that means it'll be done just in time for when I get back!"

In that moment, Misty felt a surge of sickness rise up from the pit of her stomach. "You're going to be there for two years?!" she cried, notes of both hurt and disbelief in her voice.

"Well…yeah, Misty, it always takes two years for me to travel through a region nowadays," he reminded her. "What's the big deal?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all! Why would I make a big deal out of not seeing my best friend for another two years?"

There was bile and sarcasm dripping from her every word. How she tried desperately to recall Delia's comforting advice before she did any more damage, but her mouth was working on autopilot, and her overworked mind could do little to stop it.

"Whoa, hey, where's this coming from?" the confused Ash shot back. "We were having a nice chat there, just like old times. Why'd you go all moody like that out of nowhere?"

"WHY?!" Misty shrieked, finally letting it all loose. "LET'S SEE YOU BE ALL SMILES AND LAUGHTER WHEN YOU'RE FORCED OUT OF YOUR HOME! BUT OH WAIT, IT'S ALRIGHT FOR YOU, ISN'T IT! YOU CAN JUST GO ANYWHERE YOU WANT, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO WITH WHOEVER YOU WANT TO DO IT WITH, WHILE I'M STUCK HERE WITH NOTHING AND NO-ONE, AND YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I'M MOODY?! WELL, I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, MR. POKÉMON MASTER!"

Out of breath and quivering frantically, Misty angrily threw her pokégear across the square, the device landing with a metallic clunk on the ground a few feet away. Her head was spinning; losing her temper with Ash was as predictable as the cycle of night and day, but never had it come from somewhere so personal before. It was almost…cleansing in a way, like a purge of all her pent-up anger over being lonely, left out and severely lovesick (she was relieved she hadn't accidentally revealed the latter, however).

She calmed down relatively quickly, and went to retrieve her surprisingly unscathed device. Picking it up, she could faintly hear Ash's voice, as if he had still been talking that whole time, and a wave of guilt overcame her instantly.

"…You know?" she heard him say, presumably the very end of a long and meaningful question.

"Oh, erm, y-yeah, sure," Misty answered tentatively, but started speaking again before he could call her out on it. "Listen, Ash, I'm sorry for what I said there. It's not your fault this is happening, and I really am happy that you're enjoying your time in Kalos."

Ash sighed, the tone of which suggested it was with relief. "Thanks, Misty. And, you know, I'm sorry too. It sucks that we haven't seen each other for so long. I really did mean to drop in before I went to Kalos, but I just, well, missed you."

Those last few words caused Misty's heart to pulsate. "You missed me?" she repeated airily.

"N-No no, wait, n-not like that! I mean I missed the opportunity, because I was with this journalist woman Alexa, and we were travelling to Kalos together so I didn't have the chance."

"Oh," was all she could say, unquestionably disappointed. Neither said anything for a few awkward seconds, the brief stalemate only ending with a clear of Ash's throat.

"But, um…that too, I guess."

As quickly as it appeared, Misty's disappointment turned straight to joyful gratitude. "Thank you, Ash," she whispered. "And I suppose it's obvious by now, but I miss you too, a whole lot."

Ash said nothing, but something in her gut told her that her best friend was smiling as widely as she was. Either that, or he had dozed off for a second, as a deafening yawn made its way out of the speaker soon after.

"I think you'd better get back to bed, Ketchum," she giggled.

"Hehe, you're probably right," he said groggily. "I'm glad you called though, Misty. And hey, don't forget to check your mailbox, remember?"

"My mailbox?" she asked, perplexed.

"Speak to you soon, Mist!"

With that, he was gone, and Misty was plunged back into the stillness of the empty construction site. Immediately, the redhead tore over to the still intact mailbox at the front of the old gym, tutting to herself as she realised her sisters hadn't bothered to change their postal address to the hotel they were staying in. She flung open the hatch, stuck her arm inside, and pulled out a chunky but compact package. On the outside of the brown paper was a label, crudely stuck on with tape, that read:

_Misty,_

_It's not much, but I thought of you as soon as I saw these!_

_Love,_

_Ash_

This must have been what he was talking about when she had thrown her pokégear, Misty decided with a click of her fingers. Her curiosity was piqued now, and she quickly shed off the paper to reveal a small tin of Kalosian cookies. Judging by the pictures on the front, they were all water pokémon-themed, with a staryu, goldeen, gyarados and many she did not recognise smiling up at her. One shake confirmed to her that they were little more than crumbs now, but as she carefully opened the lid, she discovered that one had remained intact: a little psyduck cookie, its beady eyes and curved bill drawn on with swirly, decorative icing.

"Idiot," she laughed instinctively, closing the tin and holding it close to her chest. He may have been far away, but Ash was always the most thoughtful person when it came to his friends, and she truly loved him for that. Brock, Tracey and Daisy had tried to encourage her to tackle the root of her problems first, and she had effectively told them all that they were dead wrong. Perhaps some apologies were in order tomorrow.

With her mood lifted, Misty spun around to look up at the shell of her old gym, and then across at the bare ground that surrounded it. This could be home again, she finally accepted as she stepped back to take in the sight. The Pokémon League might have commissioned this new gym, but she was the gym leader, the landowner, and she could make it anything she wanted it to be – for her family, for her friends, for her pokémon, and for Ash. And when he came back from Kalos, she'd be sure to give him the battle of a lifetime.


End file.
